Honeymoon
by Corration
Summary: The story continues with Jalin and Salvia. Salvia is wanting to spend more time with Jalin, but he drags Blu and Jewel for the ride. Their idea is to have a safe vacation, but things don't turn out the way as planned and they find themselves trap in a new environment. Will change rating later on so be aware.
1. What Is It?

Two weeks had passed since Salvia had returned home. Salvia, a light blue-feathered, hazel-eyed Spix's Macaw with dark blue-feathered wingtips, was back in Rio after ten years of living in the States. Thanks to the curiosity of one man, she had gone back home, met her parents, and met Jalin, her boyfriend. All was fine until the truth about why she disappeared was exposed. It turned out to be a plot between her brothers and sister to get rid of her because of a simple emotion called jealousy. Depressed, she went back home. After a month of being in the States, that man named Abe came into the pet store again, but this time, he held Jalin. Jalin, exhausted from his trip, told Salvia that he was sorry and wanted to be with her, explaining he flew thousands of miles to be with her. Salvia, still wanting to be with Jalin after their fight, forgave him, and both birds went back to Rio to start a new life together.

The two weeks back in Rio were fun. They had spent time together, and Salvia was introduced around the jungle community. She was quite familiar with Pedro, Nico, Rafael, Eva, Luis, and Fides. She did see Pepito, a Lear's Macaw saved by Blu and Jewel, once, but she never saw him again. He had gone to find a mate somewhere in the deep jungles of Brazil. Also, Blu and Jewel mentioned they had another clutch during the time of her very long disappearance, but they rarely visited and moved to the northern part of Brazil. Jewel only prayed they were okay. So the gang that Salvia became acquainted with included her parents, her parents' first clutch, Rafael and Eva, Luis and Fides, Nico, and Pedro. They had spent the time doing things birds usually didn't do like play volleyball, raced on RC cars, and had rap battles with birds not even native to Rio, which was possible through the internet.

Today, the sun was shining down. Salvia opened her eyes and stretched her wings. She smiled in bliss. She looked around in the den and noticed something, more like someone, was missing. Jalin was gone. Salvia wasn't that concerned though. It was morning. Jalin was probably fetching some breakfast. Not within five minutes of thinking Jalin was most likely getting breakfast, a dark blue-feathered bird with amber eyes entered the den. He looked almost like his father, but he was a tad bit taller and had a blacker beak instead of a charcoal-colored one. Jalin came into the den with some berries and two small melons called goiabas. Jalin set the food, which was mounted on a jumbo leaf he carried, down near the entrance of the den and approached Salvia with a smile. Salvia was still lying down on her belly as she looked up at Jalin. Jalin bended down and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Good morning, my Sweet Salvia."

Salvia giggled a little. She was never used to nicknames before she met Jalin. She thought they were cute, especially how Jalin said them.

"Morning my Joyful Jalin… Uh…"

"What is it?" wondered Jalin, confused on why she seemed to be rethinking about the name.

"There are not enough j-word adjectives that mean something sweet and sexy at the same time."

"What do you mean?"

Salvia stroke the back of her head with her right wing.

"Well…like take my name for example. Words that can mean both sexy and sweet and go with my name are sweet, seductive, sexy, scrumptious-"

"Stop," said Jalin, covering his earholes and starting blushing. "You don't need to think of a word that has to be sexy and sweet."

"But you do it all the time."

Jalin thought about it, tapping his right wingtip on his chin and looking slightly up. After a few seconds, he looked back at Salvia.

"You're right. I never thought of it."

"Then let me think of something."

"Alright. You want my help?"

"No," said Salvia, waving her wing up and down. "I'll think of one on my own. Now then. Um, jolly? No. How about jacking? Definitely not. Jittery? How about if I combine them?"

Jalin's eyes flew open with worriedness, and he shook his head.

"Combine them? Honey, no. I don't want you to call me Joyful Jittery Jalin or-or Jolly Jacking Jalin."

A small smile formed on Salvia's face, and she soon busted out laughing. Jalin realized what he said and blushed. Watching Salvia laugh made him blush harder. Pretty soon, Salvia settled down, wiping the small, forming tears from her eyes.

"Jolly Jacking Jalin," she chuckled. "Oh, Jalin. You always seem to make me laugh, even if it's unintentional. That's one of the things I love about you."

"Salvia…uh…can we eat?" a still bashful Jalin asked. "I'm quite hungry."

"Of course… Hey! I just got one."

With a smile, Salvia cleared her throat.

"Umph, umph, umph. Let's eat, my Jazzy Jalin."

Jalin grinned.

"That one…that one is good. Alright, Salvia. Would you like a berry or a goiaba?"

"You brought goiabas?"

Jalin nodded. During the short period Salvia had returned and made Rio her new home, Jalin and the rest of the Blu family introduced her to the native food. There was the acai berry, the araca, the jaca, the caju, the goiaba, and several others. She liked the goiaba the best because it reminded her of the watermelon. She remembered the summers she spent with Angelica. During Fourth of July, they would spend the day eating summer foods like watermelons and sugary sweets and would finish the night seeing the fireworks. Jalin handed her the goiaba. She took it with content and started gnawing at the fruit with her beak. Jalin grabbed the other rock-sized watermelon and ate it while savoring the flavor.

"Jalin?"

Jalin stopped eating and looked up at Salvia. She was just staring at her goiaba in her wings.

"Um, what do you remember most about your adventure before coming to get me?"

Jalin scratched his head, confused. Salvia had heard his tale, about eight times now. She, being a very understanding bird, could tell the story exactly as he would. Why did she bring it up again? Jalin sensed something was wrong.

"Uh, Salvia, I don't want to be rude but-"

"I know I've heard the story a few times now. It's just that… It's just that you explored…and I haven't. Hearing it from you always widen my eyes."

Jalin smile and placed his fruit down.

"Okay. Probably the tribe almost eating me alive was the one I remember the most. Probably because it was the most frightening near-death experience I had. Also, the imagery of two humans doing it… Egh! It never fades away."

"I don't mean that, Silly. What did you see that was most memorable; sight-seeing-wise."

"Ohhhhh. Um, well, there was the University of Arizona. Mexico City has beautiful buildings. The Aztec Pyramids were so bad. Uh, there was the Golden Gate Bridge, and San Francisco itself was breath-taking, even though I almost got hit on by a gay pigeon. San Diego was also fun to be in. The beaches in San Carlos were a sight to see, however, I believe the beach in Rio is much better."

"It seems, uh, fun."

Jalin looked at Salvia curiously. She sounded like if she yearned for something. He wasn't sure what, but being silent never solved anything.

"Salvia, is something wrong? You can tell me? After all, we're together."

Salvia felt Jalin's soft feathers touch her left wing and held it ever so gently. When her half-eaten gioaba in her right wing, she gently sent it down on the ground and looked at Jalin. She saw the charm he gave her.

"Well, um, Jalin. It's just that I also want to visit somewhere special."

"Special like what?"

"Something I will always remember. You know. Like a honeymoon."

"A honeymoon?"

Salvia smiled, "Well, technically, a honeymoon is done after marriage, but since birds mate as a token of marriage and can't go anywhere because of the eggs…um…I guess this would be more like a couple retreat, but I think it's still the same thing."

As Salvia rambled on, Jalin was trying to figure out what a honeymoon was. He never heard those words growing up nor knew a word like this ever existed. Seeing that Salvia paused, he took the opportunity to ask.

"Salvia, what's a honeymoon?"

Salvia just smiled.

"You're kidding, right?"

As time shortly passed, Salvia noticed the bewilderment Jalin had. She dropped her smile.

"It seems that you aren't. Well, a honeymoon is a trip a recently married couple go on just to spend time together."

"Oh. That sounds pretty good, but, um, aren't we together now? Why do you want to go somewhere?"

The glimmer in Salvia's eyes dwindled away as Jalin's questions pierced through her heart. She tried her best to make Jalin not notice. She put her smile back on her face. She slowly moved her wings away from Jalin's grasp. She waved her right wing up and down in front of Jalin.

"You're right, Jalin. We don't need to go anywhere. Forget that I brought it up."

"But Salvia-"

"Oh, I almost forgot. Elena invited me to spend the day with her. We're taking her chicks for their first swim. I'll probably be back by midafternoon. Love you."

She kissed Jalin quickly on the cheek and exited the den. Jalin watched through the entrance of the den as she flew away. Still confused, he scratched the top of his head.

"Did…did I say something wrong? What did she mean by honeymoon?"

Jalin thought about it for a while longer. If he just used the words' proper definition of this compound, he could probably piece it together. Honey was sweet, so honeymoon probably meant that the moon was sweet. It didn't make any sense though. He had listened to Salvia describe a honeymoon, and it was a trip for a couple. It seemed it was to spend time together, but couldn't they just spend time together in Rio? But Salvia seemed so sad. Jalin huffed.

"Only one thing to do: ask Mom and Dad."

With that, he took a few more bites of his gioaba, finishing it, and flew off to his parents' den.

* * *

**So there is the first chapter of a new story. If you see any grammar errors or misspelling, please let me know. That way, I can fix it before moving onto the next chapter.**


	2. Parents' Advice

Five miles away from Jalin's den was a den where two well-known Spix's Macaws lived. There was one male and one female named Blu and Jewel respectively. Blu had dark blue feathers, a large, charcoal-colored beak and amber eyes. He was an intelligent bird, well sometimes, and was raised in the United States ever since he was a chick. His mate Jewel had light blue feathers, a small, black beak, and blue eyes. She had lived in Rio all her life and hated the thought of being contained. These two lovebirds met eleven years ago and never looked back on their relationship. They were not drawn together because it was their duty to repopulate the dying species that was the Spix's Macaw; they were together because they truly loved each other. They hatched and raised a total of eight chicks in their lifetime.

The first clutch was dear to their heart and included Jalin, Elena, and Leoncio, even though raising Leoncio was a nightmare. Then there was Aurora, who had her name changed to Salvia after being separated from them for ten years. The last clutch consisted of four chicks: Victor, Claudia, Manuel, and Christina. Unlike the first four, they did not remain in Rio and left to other parts of the jungle to love and have chicks of their own. Blu and Jewel would sometimes worry about them, but soon, that worry was gone and replaced by the joy that Salvia had returned. Still, Blu and Jewel would wonder what their latest clutch was doing, but they wondered without anxiety.

Today, the old couple just sat in their den, looking at the outside. Blu had his right wing wrapped over his mate's back, hugging her in a sense. Jewel sighed in relaxation. She turned to Blu and smiled.

"Blu, I think we did good."

Blu wanted to correct her, but he figured to not ruin the moment. Still, he was confused on why she said that. He faced her.

"Um, what do you mean?"

"Well, raising our chicks."

Blu smiled.

"Yeah, we did."

Then he sighed.

"It's just that waiting for Jalin's chicks is taking forever. I don't have eternity to wait."

"Blu, they'll have some when they are ready. Besides, we're already grandparents."

About two weeks ago, the eggs of Leoncio and Elena hatched. They were cute, featherless chicks. Blu only hoped that Leoncio had to put up with one of them. It was a bad thing to think of, but Leoncio kind of deserved it after three-quarters of Blu's injuries were a result of Leoncio's actions as a chick and teen-phase.

"Yeah, but it has been two weeks. Jalin and Salvia are living together, and they obviously love each other. It's taking a long time."

"Relax Blu."

"But remember. You were fast."

"Fast?" questioned Jewel.

"Yeah. What was it? A week after we met, we-"

Blu heard her get up and saw a pair of feet in front of him before he finished his sentence. He nervously looked up and saw the angry Jewel.

"Fast! Blu, you're saying like if it was easy to hook up with me. I remember that I hated you."

"Ye-yeah, but it was fast in the sense that it took one day. I mean, usually that happens in fairy tales… Woah. I just realized something. What if my life was just an imagination of someone else? How bizarre would that be?"

Jewel sighed.

"Blu, I think it's time to visit Tulio for your vitamin supplement."

Blu quickly jumped to his feet and shook his head.

"Uh, no. I-I'm perfectly healthy. I don't need the supplement. Besides, you know how they taste."

"I know it taste horrible, but it's for your own good… Please, Blu. Do it for me. I only want you to get the vitamin supplement because I just love you and I'm worried."

Jewel had him now. He couldn't possibly think of something to counter that.

"But Jewel, I worry about you too and care about you. It's a long flight, and I'm afraid you might strain a wing. I don't want anything to happen to my Precious Jewel."

Damn.

"Blu! You better get your feathery butt to Tulio's.."

"I think I'll pass."

Jewel gave Blu a cold stare, and he flinched at the sight of it. Out of nowhere, Jewel launched herself at Blu and tackled him to the floor.

"C'mon Blu! Don't be such a child."

"I'm not. It's just that I don't want to do it."

"But Blu, I want you to do it because I love you."

"Uh, am I interrupting something?"

Blu and Jewel stopped and looked towards the tree den's entrance. Jalin was standing there, watching the two macaws argue about something. Jewel got off of Blu and helped Blu up. They dusted themselves up and walked towards their son to greet him.

"Uh, how long were you standing there?" asked Blu.

"You don't want to know. Just…uh, never mind. Besides, what were you doing?"

"Well, your father is getting delusion again."

"Oh, okay."

"So Jalin," started Blu. "Why are you here?"

Jalin remembered and soon looked at the wooden floor. His parents looked at him curiously. Jalin sighed.

"It's Salvia."

Jewel gasped.

"I'm sorry."

Jalin looked up at Jewel curiously and figured out why she said that.

"We didn't break up, Mom. We're still eating together, sleeping together, and living together."

"Too bad you aren't mating together so I can see my grandchicks," whispered Blu.

"What did you say, Dad?"

Blu faced Jalin. He smiled and shook his head.

"Nothing. Uh, so what happened?"

"Well, Salvia has been acting weird lately. She keeps asking about the trip I had. She has heard it several times about it. Recently, she mentioned the word 'honeymoon'."

"Honeymoon?" wondered Jewel. "What's that?"

"I have no idea. I was hoping you would know."

Jewel shook her head.

"I don't. Blu, do you know what that word is?"

There was silence. Jalin and Jewel faced Blu. He stood stiff, not making any movement. It was like if he saw a ghost of Daniel Avner. It was like a double whammy of being frightened since he was seeing a ghost and the face of a cat at the same time. Jalin tapped his shoulder, and Blu got out of his trance. He shook his head and faced Jalin.

"Jalin, did you say honeymoon?"

Jalin nodded. Blu nervously tapped his wingtips together.

"Oh cheese and sprinkles."

"What is it Blu?" asked Jewel. "What is a honeymoon?"

"Well, basically it's a trip for recently married couples take to spend time together before starting their family. Since we're birds and we mate for being together for what is marriage, I guess it's a trip for living-together couples."

Jewel thought about it.

"That…doesn't sound bad."

"I don't get why she wants one."

"Well," said Jewel, "if a honeymoon's a trip, she just wants to see different places. Jalin, you should know that Salvia is the exploring-type. She always wants to see and try new things. I guess hearing about your trip made her wish that she was there with you, exploring these new places. Have you listened to any clues?"

"Not really, but she does bring the word 'Hawaii' a lot, if that helps."

"Ha-Hawaii," stammered Blu. "Hawaii's the fiftieth state of the United States. There're a lot of beaches, open land, and nature."

"Hawaii sounds like a nice place," commented Jewel and then she faced Jalin. "So, are you going to take her?"

"Hold on Jewel. Why does she need to go to Hawaii? I mean, she just got here in Rio and is barely learning about it."

"That what I was thinking," said Jalin.

Jewel shook her head.

"But you're missing the whole point, Jalin. She wants to explore with you. You know Rio, so you can tell her everything she needs to know. Being in a new place unfamiliar gives you a choice to explore together, and that's what she wants."

"Jewel, they can explore with their new family when they start one, which I hope is very soon."

Jalin faintly blushed. Jewel looked over at Blu.

"They'll start a family when they're ready."

"But two weeks is long enough. I mean, it took us a week to lay our first eggs, and it took Elena and Leoncio to lay their eggs in a week and a half. Jalin should continue the pattern here."

"If I did, I would have to wait six and three-quarters of a week, assuming no common difference."

"Very clever, Son."

Jewel rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. Jalin and Blu faced Jewel, who looked back at Jalin.

"Jalin, if she has been giving you hints, please take her to Hawaii for some fun."

"But-"

"No, Jewel. If he did that, we would have to wait longer for our grandchicks."

Jalin's eyes widened into this realization and quickly responded.

"You know, I could probably take her. I want to make her happy, and it seems a trip to this Hawaii place might just do it."

Jewel's expression lit up as Blu's face dropped.

"That's wonderful. You know, thinking about it, your father has never taken me on a honeymoon."

Blu flinched and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, um, we needed to save the species and all. Besides, honeymoons are for recently-together couples. We've been together for a long time to be qualified as such."

Jewel faced her mate.

"Which gives us more the reason. We're eleven years overdue."

"Um…uh," panicked Blu. "We-we n-need to make sure it's alright with Jalin. We don't want to be a burden in our son's trip with his mate-to-be."

Jalin faintly blushed, but he managed to speak his next words after his blush faded away.

"It's okay, Mom."

Blu's face sagged down.

"I was going to ask you if you wanted to come anyways," continued Jalin. "I don't want to mess this up."

Jewel happily smiled.

"Oh, this is great," she said, walking towards the entrance. "I-I need to get things ready. Um, we need to get a flight, I think. Um, Blu, how far is Hawaii- Wait, never mind. I can check on the computer when we go to Linda's. We probably should go. I mean...Jalin, when are we leaving? Tomorrow? I hope is tomorrow."

Jalin was confused seeing his mother like this. She acted like a kid in a candy store.

"Um, I guess we can leave tomorrow in the late afternoon. I have to tell Salvia, and that way, she can get ready."

"Oh, yes," said Jewel. "We better get ready, Blu. We can figure out where Hawaii is and if we need a plane after you get your supplement. No, I didn't forget. C'mon, Dear. We have so many things to do."

After she said that, Jewel extended her wings and flew out of the den. The two males faced each other. Jalin, who had a content face, formed a nervous smile as he saw his dad's cold expression. There was an awkward silence. Jalin tapped his wingtips nervously.

"So,um, yeah. We…we had better catch up with Mom."

There was a couple of seconds of silence, and then Blu opened his beak.

"Son, this is why I persisted on you having chicks early."

"C'mon, Dad. It won't be that bad."

"And that is what Disney said when they bought Star Wars and made their first movie. Didn't you see it? Boba Fett is a bounty hunter, not a compassionate person who helps the Jedi for free because he wants to. Why do you have to ruin every movie of beloved characters with a script that feels uncompleted and major plot holes for characters? Like in the Avengers. Bruce Banner doesn't turn into the Hulk and suddenly does at the end of the movie. C'mon, Disney. Don't screw us over. Pixar is okay, but show more bloodshed."

"Uh, Dad? Are you okay?"

Blu shook his head.

"Why?"

"You're ranting again. Probably Mom's right about you needing your supplement."

Blu just grunted at his son. He opened his wings and left the den. Jalin joined him, and they caught up with Jewel. Together, they headed to Rio to plan for the trip…and get Blu a dose of vitamins.


	3. Potential Danger

Jewel was waiting for Blu to appear out of Tulio's lab in the nursing room. This was nursing as in a sense that injured birds were being treated for their wounds. When they had arrived, Jalin parted ways in saying that he needed to find things for the trip. Jewel didn't spend the time alone. Near the door to the entrance of the lab was a long table that Jewel was on. Along that table, there were many cages. Jewel was chatting with the bird in the cage closest to the door. The bird inside was a Horned Puffin, This female was part of a zoo and got sick while in Rio. It was then taken to Tulio after the zoo's veterinary couldn't figure out what was wrong after several tries.

"So you were the last two Spix's Macaws?"

Jewel nodded.

"Yep. That was a while back. Now, we're grandparents."

The puffin smiled.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks… So, have you always been part of the zoo?" asked Jewel.

"Not all the time. I was captured and placed in a local zoo."

"That's horrible."

"Well, not really. I was feed and treated for my injuries. See, I was in a minor hurricane that messed me up really bad. I thought I could never fly again. Luckily, some humans helped me and treated my wounds."

"You survived a hurricane?"

"Yeah. I think the humans called it Hurricane Neki. That was a long time ago. I was only two at the time."

"Where was this hurricane?"

"Hurricane Neki? That was in Hawaii."

Jewel's eyes widened.

"You're from Hawaii?"

The puffin nodded.

"Sure am. It's really gorgeous over there. I mean, if it hasn't changed for thirteen years."

Jewel remained silent. The puffin got this feeling something was wrong and asked.

"Are you okay?"

Jewel blinked once and slowly shook her head.

"Yeah. Sorry. I was thinking. It's because my mate, my son and his mate-to-be, and I are planning a trip up there."

"Oh. Don't worry about the storms over there. I think storm season has passed."

Jewel grinned in relief.

"Good. I was getting kind of nervous."

"But I need to tell you something. Recently, the zoo got a new puffin, and he's from Hawaii. He said that something doesn't seem right. He was captured, but not for zoo purposes."

"You mean he wasn't captured for a zoo."

The puffin nodded.

"He said it was for something else. He didn't know for what though."

Jewel absorbed what the puffin had said. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the lab door opening. Jewel and the puffin looked to see who it was. Tulio was walking in, carrying a relaxed Blu. He set Blu down next to Jewel and smiled.

"Blu is doing fine. He had low vitamin deficiency, but he should be doing better."

"I don't know how I got low vitamin deficiency," said Blu. "I'm a bird, and I only eat fruits."

"How about Linda's cookies?" wondered Jewel.

Blu nervously grinned.

"Those…those are the exceptions."

Jewel just smiled.

"Oh, Blu. Still eleven years later, you still act like my goofball when we first were together."

Jewel faced the puffin.

"Well, I'm sorry for leaving out of the blue-"

Blu quickly thought of what Jewel had said and shrugged it off.

"-but we need to prepare for our trip."

"Alright. Just be careful."

Jewel waved goodbye and took off through the opened window in the lab. Blu looked at the puffin, nodded, and followed his mate. He regrouped with Jewel shortly outside. He aligned himself with Jewel side-by-side.

"That was…kind of strange," commented Blu. "Instead of saying be careful, she said just be careful. It sounded like more of a warning. Um, Jewel, did she say something?"

As Blu talked, Jewel was thinking on why that new puffin she mentioned gave a bad report of his time in Hawaii. He was captured, but it wasn't for being put in the zoo. Maybe it was for a pet store or just an obsessed human who wanted a puffin. Whatever it was, it seemed bad.

"Jewel?"

Jewel snapped out of her thoughts and faced Blu.

"Oh. I'm sorry. What did you ask?"

"Um… Is everything alright?"

"Ye-yeah… I was just thinking. There's nothing to worry about."

* * *

Salvia landed on the branch that led to the entrance of Jalin's den. She had spent the rest of the morning and some of the afternoon with Elena and her kids. Now, she figured out why Elena had invited her. Elena and Leoncio had hatched a boy and a girl. Elena was frightened at first the boy would follow Leoncio's personality, but it was the girl. The boy was nervous and shy as the girl threw a tantrum every so often, especially during bath time. Elena was taking care of the boy that basically stuck to her like glue, so Salvia had to give the girl a bath. Let's just say if she had a girl, she would make sure her daughter would have a strict leash. The afternoon ended up with her getting drenched in deep water after getting rained with mud-balls from Reyna, Elena's daughter. She would have dried herself quicker if only she hadn't had to go. She was running late. Wanting to keep her word to Jalin she would be back before dinner time, she flew with wet, heavy wings.

She started to shake her wings as she walked towards the entrance. Some of the water shook off her feathers, but they were still wet. Salvia slightly groaned to herself. She neared the entrance and noticed someone sleeping in the den. She smiled and entered the den. There, near the food from this morning, was Jalin. Salvia towered over him and looked at his expression. He seemed so relaxed. Salvia bent down a little bit and stroke his back with her wing. His smile grew.

"Jalin," she said softly. "Wake up, Jalin."

Jalin slowly opened his eyes and looked up. His eyes fully opened when he noticed Salvia smiling down at him. He stood on his feet swiftly.

"Good morning, Salvia."

"Jalin, it's the late afternoon," giggled Salvia.

Jalin quickly glanced outside through his den's entrance.

"So it is."

Salvia kept her smile. It was then Jalin notice something.

"Um, Salvia, why are you wet?"

Salvia's smiling face was replaced by an explaining one.

"Reyna."

Just that one name was for Jalin to understand what happened. He already knew that Salvia and Elena were giving the chicks a bath.

"Why didn't Leoncio go? He's their father."

"Leoncio had to go find Reyna the other day, and it turns out she was under a bush that gave Leoncio a weird reaction. He's at the den covered snuggly in some leaves so he doesn't scratch himself."

"Like poison ivy."

"I think so."

Jalin sighed.

"Well, I guess what they say is true: what comes around goes around."

"I guess so…but enough of that. I need to eat. That…uh…"

"Angel?"

Salvia half-closed her eyes.

"Hardly. She tired me out. I'm hungry."

"Well, we got leftovers from this morning."

Salvia smiled in relief and looked at the leftovers. They had a lot. She then remembered why and slightly dropped her smile. Jalin took notice.

"What's wrong?"

Salvia looked up at Jalin with apologizing eyes.

"You went out of your way to get food today, and I hardly ate any."

"Well, we can eat it now."

Salvia nodded and grabbed a berry. She held it in her right wing, looking down at it. It was like if she had something else on her mind, and Jalin knew what it was. She took a bite out of it and quickly swallowed it. Jalin reached for a berry from the small pile and looked at it as he held it. He then looked up at Salvia.

"Salvia?"

Salvia halted her beak from finishing the berry and looked at Jalin. Jalin quietly cleared his throat.

"I've been thinking a lot, and since we have no chicks, I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hawaii?"

"Ha-wa-ii?" stuttered Salvia. "Do you-do you mean it?"

"Well, yes. I mean I want you to be happy. Does this make you happy?"

Salvia nodded like an eager kid saying yes when a parent asks if he or she is sure the kid wanted the toy. Jalin smiled.

"I'm glad."

"This will be fun…especially with you, my Jazzy Jalin."

Salvia came in for a hug. She wrapped her wings around Jalin's neck and inched her beak closer to his. She kissed him very passionately for this wonderful news. She parted from the kiss and saw a grinning Jalin.

"Passion berries. My favorite."

Salvia lightly giggled and released herself from the hug. She then realized something.

"Oh. I need to prepare."

"Prepare?"

"Yes," nodded Salvia. "I need a few things."

"But Salvia-"

Salvia quickly planted a kiss on Jalin.

"I'll be back."

And with that, Salvia left the den.

Jalin looked at his fruit. Salvia only had a berry, and Jalin couldn't eat all of the remaining fruit. It would have to go bad. Jalin finished the berry and ate half a goiaba before he couldn't eat anymore. He proceeded to dump the fruit on the cold ground in order to recycle it. He sighed, but it seemed Salvia was happy. Well, as long as this trip made her happy, he was happy. After all, happiness was all that mattered.

Jalin flew back into the den and decided to go back to sleep. The trip to Hawaii was all figured out. He knew which plane, he knew what spots to visit in Hawaii, and he told Blu and Jewel to hide from Salvia. A honeymoon was technically just for the couple, not the parents too, but Jalin needed help, and his mother seemed like she wanted to go. It would just be a little secret she would keep from Salvia. He saw the danger in that, but they seemed small. Besides keeping that little secret, he had nothing to really worry about.


	4. Airplane Ride

The young couple arrived at the Rio airport. Salvia was the first to land on the roof. She looked out onto the runway and saw three active boarding planes. One of them was about to take off. She gasped.

"I wonder if that was ours."

She heard a soft thumping sound behind her and glanced back to see Jalin. He had been carrying a grocery plastic bag containing food. It wasn't a lot, but the thump was made when the mango hit the white, flat roof. Jalin landed in-between Salvia and the bag.

"Why do we need to bring food? We can find some over there in Hawaii."

"For the plane ride. It's dinner."

Salvia turned back to face the airplanes.

"So, which one do we board?"

Jalin walked closer to the edge of the roof and peeked down at the runway. He scanned for the plane and pointed at it.

"It's that one. U.S. Airways Flight 512. It seems that the luggage is almost done being loaded."

Salvia smiled.

"Well, then let's go, Jalin."

Without hearing Jalin's response, she took off and headed towards the airplane Jalin had pointed at. Jalin looked back at the plastic bag and sighed. He grabbed hold of his bag with his talons and took off. There were two workers working on duty. They were finishing up loading up the passengers' luggage. A tannish man hopped out of the cargo room and signaled his coworker to close it. He nodded and got into position to close it. They needed to move the luggage carrier, that luggage train car, a little bit back. Jalin saw Salvia swoop down through the door without being seen. He proceeded to do the same thing, but his time limit was smaller. The two men were lifting the door. Jalin zoomed pass the door and barely made it in. He was going a little too fast and crashed his landing. He skidded slightly against the metal surface as the door closed behind him. He exhaled in relief, but then he jumped up in slight irritation. He looked at his belly.

"I think I messed up my feathers."

He patted himself where he felt the irritation, but it resulted in more pain. He cringed his eyes and bent down, as if he were having a stomach ache.

"Oooo. That…that hurts."

He noticed two black bird feet on the ground. He tilted his head up to find a smiling Salvia. He smiled kind of nervously and asked.

"Uh…"

"Jalin," Salvia said seductively, "thank you."

She planted a quick kiss on his lips. He grinned.

"You're welcome, my Sweet Salvia."

Salvia giggled.

"Oh," she expressed in excitement. "This is going to be so much fun. The surfing, the exploring, the festivities, the food… I can't wait for this plane to take off."

Suddenly, both macaws heard something rumbling underneath their feet. Salvia grinned as Jalin flinched a litte.

"The plane moved," he stated.

Salvia was about to reply when she noticed Jalin's body. It seemed unsettled. Salvia placed a wing on Jalin's shoulder to try to relax him.

"Jalin, are you okay?"

Jalin relaxed his body.

"Yeah. I-I don't know why I'm so nervous."

That was a lie. He knew very well his parents were somewhere here. He had to keep them a secret from Salvia for the rest of the plane trip. Once in Hawaii, there was a very slim chance that they would run into each other. He just had to survive the plane.

"Jalin?"

Jalin shook his head to clear his worrying thoughts and faced Salvia.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to eat now?"

"Yeah. Sure."

Salvia walked over to the bag and searched in it for some fruit. She pulled out a mango.

"I think we should eat half. They say you shouldn't eat like a pig before you go to sleep."

"I resent that."

Salvia and Jalin's eyes widened, in wonder of who had spoken.

"Who-or what-was that?"

"Very original," mocked the voice. "Like we haven't heard that joke on T.V. already."

The macaws looked all around from where they stood. They saw metal walls and stacked luggage that varied in heights. The two macaws put their backs against each other in fear and whispered to each other.

"You see who it is?" asked Salvia.

"Nope, but we need to find out soon. Don't worry, Salvia. I got your back."

"That's sweet of you Jalin, but I think I'll be protecting more yours than you protecting mine."

Jalin half-closed his eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just as I say. Remember, I still win that wrestling game we play."

"That's because I let you."

"Sure, Jalin. Sure."

"I can too. Here, I'll prove it."

"Uh, that's alright, Jalin."

"But-"

"You two are bickering as children," said the voice.

Jalin retraced the voice by the sound and spotted what made the voice. He pointed at it.

"There."

Salvia turned around, getting off of Jalin's back and looked up. A few feet away from them was a small stack of travel bags. At the top of these four bags, all standing on their flat side was a cage. Inside the cage was a white furred, polydactyl cat with black fur on her ears and on top of her eyes that connected to each other so it looked like she had a hooded of fur on her head. The cat was very domesticated, looking at the size of it. It was a short-furred cat, so the fat seen from it was all true fat. It lied on its belly, looking down at the macaws.

"Two more blue birds. Quite a delight."

Two more blue birds, thought Salvia.

"What are you two doing in a plane anyways?" asked the cat. "Shouldn't you be flying around, all free and such?"

"We're taking a trip to Hawaii," announced Salvia.

Jalin quickly turned at her.

"Don't tell the cat that. It might find us and eat us."

The cat laughed.

"Oh. Is this your boyfriend? I can see it was for looks instead of brains?"

Jalin half-closed his eyes and glared in annoyance at the cat.

"Hey, I'm smart. I know that energy-"

"Equals the mass times the speed of light squared," finished the cat. "Don't try to bore me. Everyone knows that. Well...they should."

"Okay, you cat. How about this? The Gibbs free energy could be considered as equal to the change in electrical energy when creating a lead battery from the Nernst Equation."

"Ah. A little thermodynamics. I misjudged you bird. However, you aren't still very bright. You assumed that I would be chasing you in Hawaii where my owner has total control of me. By the time I get out of the airport, you will be long gone. Oh, and I wouldn't even bother going into the tropical jungles of Hawaii. My fur would get all dirty. Plus, my owner feeds me, so I don't have to hunt cats like those alley cats."

Jalin thought.

"You…uh, make a pretty good point there."

"So can I guess you two are from Rio?"

Jalin and Salvia nodded.

"Why would you want to go there and not stay in Rio? I found it more appeasing to my taste."

"Well…" began Salvia. "I had a previous owner before I was free. Her name was Angelica. She was a student intern at this pet store which also served as an animal hospital. After her graduation, she and a couple of friends went to Hawaii to celebrate. I couldn't go since I was four years old and still needed lots of care and attention. Yeah, those served as my curiosity years, and she feared something bad would happen to me. I remained in the pet store for four weeks with the veterinarian until she got home. She was showing the veterinarian the pictures she took, and I got a sneak view. The scenery was so amazing. I feel in love and knew that I wanted to visit Hawaii. So, here we are on our way to Hawaii."

"Hmm… You two recently got hitched then?"

Jalin blushed a little.

"Not technically. We just eat, fly, and sleep together."

The cat dully looked at Jalin.

"So, um…college boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Beyond that," said Salvia.

"Engaged?"

"Uh…close enough," said Jalin. "It's different for birds."

"Quite," replied the cat. "My species is just cum and go."

Salvia scrunched her face in disgust as Jalin rubbed the back of his neck.

"A little too much FYI," said Jalin.

"Hawaii will be a good place," said the cat, changing the subject. "If you like Rio, you'll most likely enjoy Hawaii."

"What is there to do?" asked Salvia.

"Honey, you're asking the wrong feline. I'm a house cat. The stray cats know more, but you'll end up dead before you start your romantic getaway. I would just ask the tropical birds there…but something about them worries me. A week before I left for Hawaii, I only saw a few birds compared to what I used to see. It could just be as simple as human expansion, but I haven't seen or heard any new buildings or neighborhoods. My owner is a building contractor, so she knows about any new buildings in the state. Maui doesn't have any current building projects I can think off."

"Maui?" wondered Jalin. "I thought we were going to Hawaii."

"So, you're just book smarts," said the cat. "Maui is one of the islands of the state of Hawaii. It will be paradise for you. I think the region is quite suitable for birds."

"Book smarts," groaned Jalin. "I'll have you know that-"

"Well, I would love to stay and chat all the way over there, but I really need my kitty nap. Goodnight, Lovebirds."

The cat rested her head down and closed her yellow-greenish eyes to go to sleep. Salvia faced Jalin.

"We should eat that mango and take a quick nap too."

"Okay."

Salvia placed the mango in-between them, and they started to eat the mango. After four mouthfuls, Salvia stopped. Jalin stopped in confusion, with a mouthful of mango. He gulped down what was in his mouth.

"Salvia?"

"That cat. Did you hear what she said?"

"Yes," grunted Jalin. "What a bitch. I'm smart. Stupid cat."

Salvia shook her head.

"Not that. She said two more blue birds. What does that mean? Are there other blue birds here?"

Jalin thought about it and widened his eyes. The cat had saw Jewel and Blu. So they were somewhere around the room. Probably they were hiding behind the luggage towers.

"Jalin? What's on your mind?"

Jalin focused his eyes back on Salvia.

"Uh, nothing. Let's just get some rest. It will be dark when we get there, and we need to find shelter when we land."

"Couldn't we just sleep at the airport and then look for shelter in the morning?"

Jalin thought about it.

"That's a pretty good idea."

Salvia smirked.

"Maybe that cat was right, but I still want to be with you Jalin."

"So do I," smiled Jalin.

The two Spix's Macaws came together for a quick kiss and continued eating the mango. From the shadows, two other Spix's Macaws watch them and smiled happily.


	5. No Directional Landing

Jalin opened his eyes and stretched out his wings. He stood up and looked around. He was still on the airplane. It was him and Salvia, who was sleeping next to him on the metal floor of the plane's cargo room. He looked at where the cat was and saw the cat sleeping in the shadows within its cage. He soon felt like the plane hit the floor. He faced Salvia and caressed the back of her head.

"Salvia, I think we landed."

Salvia slowly opened her eyes and stretched her wings out. She turned over and noticed Jalin was on his knees. She got to her feet and curiously looked at Jalin.

"Jalin, what happened? You need a hand...I mean wing?"

Jalin slightly looked up and accepted Salvia's wing. With her help, he rose to his feet.

"Thanks."

"Why were you on your knees?"

"You-Your stretching?"

"My stretching? What's wrong?"

"Let's just say the pitch was below the batting area."

Salvia gave Jalin a weird look.

"What?"

"That was painful strike for Private Jalin."

"Huh?"

Jalin half-closed his eyes and sighed.

"You accidentally hit me down in my groaning."

"Oh...OH! I'm sorry. Are you alright?"

"...Ye-yeah. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

Jalin nodded.

"Trust me. I'm sure. I think the plane landed, so they will open the door soon. We need to be ready to take off. C'mon."

Jalin walked over and put his back against the wall next to the door. He looked over at Salvia and signaled her to come to him. Salvia, still worried he was still in pain, walked towards him.

"Jalin? What are you doing?"

Jalin suddenly grabbed her right wing and led her closer to the wall, making her stand next to him. Salvia narrowed her eyes slightly at Jalin.

"Jalin, why did you do that?"

Jalin faced his girlfriend and explained.

"When the door opens, we quickly take off and fly pass the unloading people."

"That's a good idea... So, how long do we have to wait?"

"What are you two doing? Can you keep it down?"

Salvia and Jalin looked over at a familiar cage to see the cat they spoke to earlier during flight staring at them.

"Your constant talking has woke me up. Besides, why are you two against the wall?"

"Isn't it obvious?" questioned Jalin. "When it opens, we take off."

"Very good escape plan. You should tell the other two blue birds."

Other two blue birds, thought Salvia.

"Um, excuse me," said Salvia. "What do you mean by two blue birds?"

"Honey," said the cat, "I can't be anymore clearer. There are two other blue birds here."

"But-"

"Salvia, she could be tricking you. I mean, look at her eyes. They scream devious."

"Believe what you believe, you little blue bird."

"But-" began Salvia, but a sound was heard suddenly. The door was slowly opening. Jalin and Salvia watched intensely as they waited for a person to enter the cargo compartment of the plane. Soon, a tan man with dark brownish hair entered the cargo room. His uniform implied that he was a worker of the airport. The slightly chubby worker walked inside the confined room of luggage to get all the cages first. Jalin saw the opportunity to escape and quickly flew out. Salvia followed Jalin, and the two birds exited the airplane's cargo room and flew up into the air.

There was a breeze smoothly flowing through the sky. The sky itself had some sparkling stars, and the quarter moon shined brightly. The young couple landed on the flat roof of the medium-sized airport building. Jalin extended his right wing out and smiled.

"Welcome to, um, Maui...I think."

Salvia's smile grew. Before her were jungles, beaches, and some tourist and local buildings. Civilization covered most of the closer view, but the distant view had a vast quantity of nature. All looked so appeasing. Salvia took in a deep breath and exhaled in relaxation.

"So, where should we go? Oooohhhh, this is so exciting. I think the beach...no, the jungle...no, the city... Oh, I can't make up my mind."

Jalin pulled his wing back and scratched his head.

"I think we should find a place to stay. It's dark, and we don't know what kind of predators there are."

"It can't be that different than Rio. Plus, it might be less. All we need to find is a safe tree to sleep in."

"I guess so."

"Then let's go. We should find somewhere the north side of town. Probably a park or just on the outskirts of town. That way we can go to a tourist info center in the morning."

Salvia nodded.

"That's a good plan. Lead away, Jalin."

Jalin opened his wings and took flight into the dark night. Salvia followed him, and the two birds went their merry way to find a place to rest.

As the two birds were a safe enough distance from the roof, two more blue birds peeked over the edge of the roof. They had been hiding from Jalin and Salvia underneath from where the young couple was, on a platform attached on the upper exterior wall. The dark sky provided a darker area to hide in. The two birds climbed up on the roof and dusted themselves off.

"Heard that, Blu. Jalin is going to sleep in the northern part of town."

"That means we should head south. I like the idea of the tourist info though. If we had a map, we could hit the library and check out the most popular landmarks."

Jewel thought about.

"Um, couldn't we just print out a map and mark the most popular landmarks from the internet now."

Blu thought about it.

"Good idea. Hopefully this place has an university or library opened twenty-four hours."

Blu and Jewel took to the skies and headed to the south of the town.

* * *

Three people sat around a round table in a small room. The room was a square room with a florescent light panel attached to the ceiling. One guy was dressed in a blue, long-sleeved dress shirt and black dress pants. He wore a charcoal tie. The other two men across from him both wore black tuxedo suits, black ties, a white dress shirt, and black dress pants. One of the men in black tuxedos handed the white man wearing the blue dress shirt a formal paper.

"Here you go, Dr. Johnson. You're in charge of EPA's Project ALSO."

Dr. Johnson, the white man with blue eyes and light brownish hair, took the paper that gave him the authority to run the United States' EPA's latest project.

"Remember," said the other man in a tuxedo, who did not hand him the paper. "This project is crucial on how different species interact."

Dr. Johnson nodded.

"Understood."

"If this works, then we'll give you the green light for Project EAR."

* * *

Jalin and Salvia landed on a branch a thick tree in one of the city's small parks. It didn't have a den to enter, but it provided shade and covering in the shadows within it. Jalin looked at Salvia.

"I know it's not the best tree-"

"Don't worry. It's fine, Jalin. Besides, we get to sleep outside, under the stars. We've never down that before."

Salvia leaned over and gave Jalin a kiss.

"Well, I guess we better go to sleep."

"Yep," agreed Jalin. "We have a busy day tomorrow."

Salvia rested her head on Jalin's shoulder.

"Goodnight, Jalin."

"Goodnight."

As Salvia went to sleep, Jalin looked up at the moon and hoped nothing would ruin this trip and all would be fine. He closed his eyes and joined Salvia in dreamland.

* * *

Blu and Jewel had snuck into the university that had a closed library. They had entered the building through a small window near the ceiling. Surprisingly, no one was in the building. The two birds flew down to one of the few computers and accessed it. Blu smiled.

"Good thing this is a PC. I think they're easier to hack through than a Mac."

Jewel looked around the library.

"Now, to see where we are," mumbled Blu.

Jewel looked over at a poster on the wall near the entrance. She read it.

"Welcome to University of Hawai'i Maui College in Kahului," she whispered to herself and then told Blu. "Honey, I think we're in Kahului."

"Dear, just because it's on a poster, doesn't make it true."

A minute later, Blu found where they were located by using Google Maps. He rubbed his neck.

"We're in Kahului."

Jewel half-closed her eyes.

"And just because it's on the internet makes it true," she said.

"Well, we know where we are. It doesn't really matter who is right and who is wrong. Let me download the map and print it out."

"Doesn't matter?" questioned Jewel as she saw Blu printing out a map of Maui. "Just because I'm right, again, you just want to shrug it off."

Jewel thought about it.

"Oh, I see. Mr. Smarty-Pants doesn't want to be one-uped in his home in The United States."

Blu gulped and looked over at Jewel.

"N-No. It's just that...um..."

"Sure, my sweet Darling."

Blu shook his head.

"I think the map is done. Let's just go."

Blu took off to fetch the freshly printed map. Jewel just smiled.

"He acts like if it was the end of the world."

Jewel followed Blu to the printer. Blu rolled up the paper and gripped it with his feet. The two birds left the library building in search of a tree to rest in. They had a busy day of fun and exploration tomorrow.


	6. Finding Breakfast

Morning had come to the city. The locals were up, doing their daily routines. Over than half of the tourists were sleeping still, but those who were early birds were up and eating breakfast, planning where to go. That expression 'early birds' was an overstatement. In the park, in a tree, two birds on their vacation getaway were resting next to each other. They weren't exactly early birds, but they would wake up before the late sleepers. Jalin was the first to awake. He opened his amber eyes and stretched out his right dark blue wing. He smacked his big, black beak together, making a chopping-like sound. He looked over to his left shoulder to see Salvia's light blue feathered head resting on it. Her small, charcoal beak was inviting to kiss. Jalin did not do such a thing. He waited until she was awake. He did not wait long as he saw her hazel eyes slowly absorbing the sight of the green park before them. She slowly lifted her head up and yawned, stretching her feet by lifting herself higher off the ground. Salvia looked over at Jalin and gave him a warm smile.

"Good morning Jalin."

"Good morning Salvia."

Jalin leaned over and planted a kiss on her beak. She accepted this quick, morning kiss and moved back as Jalin moved back from the kiss. She smiled.

"What are we going to do today?" she said happily.

"Same thing we do every day, Salvia: go to the beach."

"The beach? Well, that sounds like a good idea. I wonder how the beaches are here."

Jalin nodded.

"Yeah. Let's go."

Jalin extended his wings and was about to take off, but Salvia put her wing on his shoulder to stop. Jalin looked at his girlfriend.

"Aren't you forgetting the most important meal?" asked Salvia.

"I think we skipped actually breakfast. It's brunch."

"Well, then. Let's have brunch."

Jalin looked around. He noticed an unattended table mat on the grass under a nearby palm tree. The family was off playing, but scavengers feasted on their leftover food. A couple of Mitred Parakeet were pecking some of the crumbs of bread slices on the mat. Salvia looked at the couple, and her eyes lightened up.

"Why don't we ask them?"

Jalin shook his head.

"No. We are birds. We know where to go."

"In Rio," pointed out Salvia. "Besides, we're not migrating birds."

Jalin looked to his left, thinking. He tapped his wings nervously for a minute as he thought. He then faced Salvia and shrugged.

"Ummmmmmmm...we can find food."

Salvia half-closed her eyes.

"Don't be so stubborn."

She suddenly shoved Jalin, but it was a little too much, so Jalin ended up falling off the tree. He did not smack the floor as his father. He hurriedly recover his falling and turned it into flight. He flew up to Salvia and slightly narrowed his eyes. Salvia nervously smiled.

"Sorry."

Jalin shrugged and flew down towards the mat. The two birds, one male and one female, looked at this brilliant dark blue macaw they have never seen before. The fifteen inch, green parakeets looked at Jalin. The female blushed as the male toughened his appearance. Jalin gave a silently shocked look.

"Uh, hi," said Jalin. "I was just wondering where could I get some grub."

The male bird looked at him confusedly.

"So...you're not from around here."

Jalin shook his head.

"I'm from Rio."

"Rio," wondered the male bird. "Brazil, right? I heard from some migrating birds that there's where it's at."

Jalin blinked in confusion.

"What?"

"A party central for birds."

"Oh," said an understanding Jalin. "Yep. There's a small party everyday and a big one at least every two weeks, except during events."

Jalin felt like if someone was staring at him. He turned over to the female. Her eyes, big and glimmering, stared at him, like almost dying for his soul. Jalin faked a cough before facing back at the male.

"Is something up? Is there something in my face, or what?"

The male turned at the female and elbowed her. The female shook her head out of the trace and blushed. The male sighed.

"Sorry about that. My sister gets bashful around...um...birds like yourself."

"Like how?" wondered Jalin.

"Um," a whisper came from the female, "are you single?"

Jalin flinched a little as her words ringed in his head. He quickly shook his head.

"N-no," he said and then sighed. "Look, can you please tell me where to get fruit from the jungle?"

"Fruit from the jungle?" repeated the male in a question. "I guess the best bet is to go near the beach for fruit. As for the jungle...we're kind of city birds. We don't go to the jungle to scavenge because of the forest."

A dull, dunce look swept across Jalin's face. Why was it that birds outside of Rio were either wanting to beat him up, gave bad or useless information, or horny for him? Were birds from Rio, minus Pedro and Leoncio, the only sane birds? A bird landed next to him and tapped him on shoulder. He slightly jumped, but he calmed down when he released it was Salvia.

"Is everything alright?" asked Salvia.

Jalin nodded.

"Ye-Yeah. The beach might have some fruit."

Salvia gave Jalin a cute, confused face.

"Which beach?"

"I think you can find some macadamia nut and passion fruit trees near the unpopulated areas of Waihee Beach," said the male parakeet. "It's a fly away, but if you're going to a beach, might as well fly there and then eat. It's a little northwest from here. If you go up on Highway 330, you reach Waihee. From the city, it should be easy to find the beach."

Salvia groaned.

"Is there anything closer?"

The parakeet swayed his head back and forth, thinking. He soon stopped.

"Well, you only what to go that far if you want the fruit from nature only. Most things around the city are commercial or grown and harvested by the natives."

"Okay. Thanks for your help."

Salvia felt the same thing as Jalin did. Someone was unpleasantly staring at her. She looked over and saw a female Mitred Parakeet looking intensely at her. She looked over at the male when a concerned face.

"Not to be rude or anything, but is she okay?"

"Sure," waved off the male. "She's just jealous that you got a sharp fellow that she wants."

"Oh. Um, thanks for the help. C'mon Jalin."

Salvia turned around and started to walk away to spread her wings away from the two birds. Jalin stood still, thinking.

"Sharp fellow?" he questioned smugly. "Well, at least someone respects my genius."

Suddenly, he felt someone pull his tail feathers. He fell to the floor and was dragged away.

"Let's go, Mr. Genius," came Salvia's stern voice.

The two parakeets watched the female Spix's Macaw dragging the male Spix's Macaw across the ground a few meters away from them before she stopped and released the male. Jalin got up and dusted himself off, but before he could speak, Salvia took to the skies and flew northwestern. Jalin glanced back at the parakeets and then flapped up into the air to catch up with his girlfriend. The male parakeet rubbed the back of his head.

"Tourists," he mumbled. "They're a bit strange."

"But exotic," the female parakeet said dreamily, "like that hunk of bird. Never have been with an exotic man."

The male parakeet looked at his sister.

"He didn't sound exotic. He sounded more American."

"But the looks. Mike, we live in America. It's the American way to get what we want."

"I know, but what about morals and compassion?"

He heard no response. His sister was still looking at the sky, hoping that dot in the sky in the distance was him.

"Desiree? Desiree, are you even paying attention?"

Desiree heard Mike's questions, though unclearly, and faced him.

"What? Did you say something?"

Mike groaned.

"Never mind."

* * *

Blu and Jewel landed near a fruit stall. A local was selling mostly mangoes and coconuts in a cart on the sidewalk in a tourist spot. They hurried walked under the cart, hoping that a fruit might had rolled underneath by mistake. There was one fruit under the cart, and luckily, it was a mango. The cart owner had not probably noticed it fell. Blu smiled and extended his right wing out in a presenting matter like a butler.

"Breakfast is served."

Jewel smiled and giggled a little.

"Why, thank you my kind sir."

Blu walked over to the mango and was going to roll it over to Jewel when it started rolling the other direction. Blu was too clumsy to react quicker to stop the fruit. Probably he should tell the owner of the cart that it was not a safe idea to have the cart on a slight slope. The mango rolled out into the open. Jewel shook her head.

"I'll get it."

Jewel walked over to the edge of the cart and slowly walked from underneath the cart. Blu saw her disappear behind the hanging picnic mat if the cart. He waited for a few minutes, but there was no sign of Jewel. He cautiously walked to the edge of the cart and heard two voices.

"What an exquisite bird," said a kind, male voice. "Is this yours?"

The chunky stall owner shook his head. Another voice spoke up. This voice was deeper and more serious.

"I have never seen this bird. Clearly, it is not native."

"Then what do you want to do?" asked the man wind a kind voice.

The deep-voiced man looked at Jewel who was trying to get out of the hands of the kind-voiced man. He looked at the stall owner and then pulled out his wallet. He gave the stall owner a hundred-dollar bill.

"We were never here."

The stall owner nodded. Blu heard footsteps, and soon, the steps faded away. Blu breathed nervously.

"Oh. This is bad. Very bad. I need to rescue Jewel... No, I need to get help Jalin's help...but then Salvia would find out Jalin invited us...but this is important. No, I...er... First, I need to follow them."

Blu ran out from underneath the cart. The stall owner saw a blue bird take flight in front of him and pointed at Blu.

"Sirs!" he yelled. "I see another one! Do I get another hundred? Sirs! Sirs?"

They couldn't hear him. The chunky tan man quickly reacted and picked up an apple from one of his display boxes of fruit. He aimed at Blu and threw the fruit. It was a direct hit as Blu started to fall and hit some dirt. The man quickly ran to capture his prize. Blu groaned as he lied on a patch of dirt surrounded by short grass. It seemed he fell right in front of someone's house.

"Did-did an apple just hit me?"

Suddenly, two hands wrapped around his body. He was picked up by the chunky man. He tried to escape, but the man had his hands firmly around them. Blu soon felt something wet and made a disgusted face. The man's hands were sweating.

"Eghhhh! Gross, dude. Just gross."

The happy, chunky man started running towards the direction the two men took.

"Sirs! I got another exotic bird! One fifty, my offer. Sirs!"


	7. Captured

"So, what do you think?"

Jalin looked up from eating the passion fruit in front of him and looked up at Salvia. He swallowed the food in his mouth.

"About what?"

"The sight."

Jalin looked around. They had found a secluded place from humans where the ocean waters would gently brush the sandy shore. Palm trees and other plants provided shade, but none were too close to the waters. The sand itself was not blackened or filled with litter. There was surreal characteristic about the spot, like if an advertise agency had used this spot to advertise the island. The late morning wind was a bit chilly, but it was not enough to complain about. He smiled.

"It's wonderful."

Salvia took in a deep breath and exhaled dreamily. She smiled back.

"Yeah. It is."

There was a paused before Salvia spoke again.

"Jalin, where do you see us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like in the future."

Jalin scratched the back of his head.

"I don't know. Probably still in Rio."

"I know that, but I mean with ourselves."

Jalin gave Salvia an even more confused look. Salvia sighed and pretended to cradle a baby. Jalin understood her wing gesture and flinched. He rubbed under his chin looking away from her.

"Oh…uh… In time? I think."

Salvia just looked at Jalin, thinking how to respond. Probably the best way was to stay quiet. Jalin had just stated, no, implied that he was not ready. She would have to be patient. She nodded at him.

"Okay."

That one word told Jalin everything. It was very sincere, but he felt that it was expressed not very joyful. He knew what she wanted, but he was not ready to move on to the next step. Maybe seeing Leoncio and Elena's chicks wanted to make Salvia have some. It was natural for most birds to mate quickly, but he was just not ready. Jalin was not an average bird. Like his father, he always thought things out, not taking chances until the benefits outweighed the consequences. As a chick, he did not think this way, but he was innocent back then. Now, as an adult, every action had a consequence that affected only him. His thoughts swayed as he thought what to say.

"Salvia, I'm-I'm… We're out here. I know…what you want…but let's just relax out here."

"Ye-yeah," replied a quiet Salvia.

Jalin was losing. His response affected Salvia with no doubt. He needed to think of something else. He looked around and smiled. Wordlessly, he walked towards the waters. He dared not go near the crashing water on the shoreline. When he was in the right spot, he started to dig a hole in the sand. Salvia looked at him confused.

"Jalin, what are you doing?" she asked in her talking voice.

That was good for Jalin. She had changed her attitude into curiosity. Hopefully, it would change into enjoyment. Jalin continued to dig a deep enough hole that he desired. After hearing no response and Jalin still digging away, Salvia walked up to him. She lowered her head to his level, looking at the hole.

"Why are you digging a hole?"

"I think that should be deep enough," Jalin commented.

The male macaw then began to dig a tiny canal that connected the hole to the crashing seawater. Salvia sighed, knowing that Jalin was too concentrated into what he was doing. She was used to it. Jalin would read books from time to time and he would read into them so much that he would zone out the environment around him. One time, he was walking while reading a small booklet and he happened to fall off the branch outside of the den. Still, when he was like this, it frustrated her.

"Jalin, I'm trying to talk to you. Remember your girlfriend? Remember that you have one?"

Jalin, having completed his small canal, looked up at Salvia. She narrowed her eyes, making him nervous.

"Oh…um… Sorry."

He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"I got sidetracked by my thoughts. Sorry Salvia."

The hazel-eyed macaw relaxed her expression.

"Oh Jalin. We'll just need to work on that later. What are you doing?"

Jalin grinned widely as he looked down and saw water running down his small canal from the crashing waves to the hole he dug. He looked back at Salvia.

"I thought maybe you want to build a sand castle together."

Salvia just smiled.

"A sand castle? Well, I think that'll be nice. I mean, it'll be fun just working together. I've never built one before. Have you?"

Jalin shook his head.

"Never. I've been in Rio all my life, but I never have built one."

Salvia was surprised on hearing this.

"Never?"

"Never. I was hoping if you had built one in the States."

"Um… Unless you count a gingerbread house."

"Well, that's better than me. I can make the foundation, and you can make the design."

Salvia shook her head.

"How about if we both did it?"

"But you have had more experience-"

"Jalin," she started, getting on her knees. "It doesn't matter if I'm more experience. I want to build this sand castle with you."

Jalin nervously smiled. The look Salvia gave was inviting, but he restrained himself. He just dumbly nodded.

"O-okay. We can build it together."

Salvia happily nodded. Finally, she and Jalin would be doing something together on this trip. She cupped her wings together and dipped them into the water-filling hole to collect some water. She picked her wings up and dropped the water on some sand near her. She did this several times as Jalin did the same thing.

"Probably we'll need baths after this," said Salvia.

"Why?"

"Because we're playing in mud."

Jalin looked at the pile of wetted sand in front of him.

"Yeah, but it's not like the mud we see at home."

Salvia stopped pouring water onto dry and slightly wet sand and started to shape the drenched sand.

"True. I still remember that day you spent half of it taking a bath because of our neighbor's chicks."

Jalin slightly narrowed his eyes at no one in particular.

"I wish they would move already."

"I wonder how Lisa does it all?" wondered Salvia, referring to the Caica Parrot. "And she's a single mother too."

"Those chicks… How can they just trick me like that?"

"Oh, stop it. Remember, you were a chick too."

"Yeah, but I was a go…well-man…"

Jalin could not really say much about being a trouble-marker when he was younger. Of course, he was a much behaved chick that would sometimes get in trouble. Every chick would at least get in trouble once. Besides, what he did to Salvia toppled every shenanigan a chick could do, even if that chick was the next Leoncio.

"Never mind," he said looking down, starting to form the castle walls.

There was a short pause before Jalin spoke up.

"You're right, Salvia. They are chicks, but the least Lisa could do is discipline them."

"Being a single mother is hard."

"Only if you're not strict."

Salvia finished shaping one wall of the castle as Jalin finished with his. The two walls were parallel to each other, so Jalin and Savlia began working connecting walls.

"So what kind of castle are we building?" asked Salvia.

Jalin paused, looked at what was done, and continued working.

"I… That's a good question. Um… a Medieval castle."

"But what? Are we going to put a tower in it?"

"If you want to, but it'll take a long time to form something cylindrical."

Salvia thought about it and smiled.

"Well, if I find something to help me out in the jungle, then I can form it faster. I'll be back, Jalin."

Jalin watched Salvia rise to her feet.

"You want me to help you?"

"No. Jalin, can you please finish my side? That way, it'll be faster when I get back."

Jalin nodded. Salvia took off and entered the tropical jungle. Jalin wanted to accompany her, but she said she could find it alone. Maybe she needed her space, which was sometimes healthy for a relationship. He looked at her uncompleted wall. He was done with his wall, and her wall was the last one needed to be built. He began to work on his wall.

In the jungle, Salvia landed on a branch of a tree that had few branches and spaced leaves. From there, she looked at the jungle. The trees differed a lot from trees in Rio. Most of the trees Salvia saw had leaves smaller than what she wanted. She took off and continued her search for the perfect jumbo leaf from the sky.

She was not very high up, so she could easily distinguish between the tree leaves. This was one of the very few times she searched for something from the sky. She needed more practice in it. Well, who could blame her? She was raised indoor for ten years. She never really learned from her parents, so she had to rely on her instincts, which was still very unhelpful. One morning, she wanted to surprise with breakfast. Breakfast soon turned into lunch as she forgot which path back to the den. She did not return on her own; Jalin had found her carrying a jumbo leaf, which had fruit on it, and led her back home. Knowing Blu was raised indoors and then released into the wild, she asked him for advice. In secrecy, he admitted that it took him two weeks to fully adapt, but that was because he read books on the jungle and how to navigate through it. Salvia looked down and noticed a peculiar tree. She swooped down to it and landed on the branch. She looked at the leaves and smiled.

"These are the leaves I need. I should probably bring extras just in case."

She reached towards a leaf to pluck it off, but she never touched it. She was never given the chance. Her sight became blurry before she closed them, entering a deep sleep. Her body fell to the ground, but it never hit the floor. It was as if someone had caught her.

* * *

The shot slightly echoed from the jungle. It was close enough for Jalin to hear. The blue bird stopped from working on the castle and looked towards the jungle. His expression grew in horror.

"Salvia," he breathed.

He took off into the air in a hurry. He flew over the jungle, scanning for anything blue. Soon, he noticed something below. It looked like two men talking to each other. One thing stood in particular. One of the men held a barred, traveling bird cage. Salvia was in that bird cage. Jalin swooped down, but he did not go near the men. He landed on a branch of a neighboring tree to the tree the men were talking under. Both were tanned white men that seemed educated. They did not seem like poachers like those in Rio, but looks could be deceiving. One of the men had a rifle. This man had dark blond hair and blue eyes. He did not look like a native, like the guy next to him. The guy next to the blond man held the cage. His skin and eyes were brown, and his short-cut hair was dark brown. He was a little huskier than the blond man, but he was not exactly overweight. Jalin heard their conversation.

"It looks like we got another one," said the blond man.

"Yeah," agreed the brown-skinned man. "You know, I haven't seen this species before."

The blond man looked at it.

"It looks like a tropical bird. Probably a rare species."

The brown-skinned man smiled.

"Hey. Why don't we keep it and sell it to the black market?"

The blond man shook his head.

"I don't want to get fired. Rick told us that we need birds for Project ALSO. Remember, it's a government project. If we sell this bird, the government might come after us."

"You're right. I don't want to take that risk. Let's go back to base. I don't want to reach their by night."

The blond man nodded. The two men started to walk back to their framed dune buggy which was half a mile away. Jalin watched them curiously and followed their every footstep by navigating through the trees. When the two piled into the buggy, putting Salvia under the seat of the brown-skinned man in-between his legs, Jalin flapped his wings above it. There was really no safe way to ride the buggy safely and remain hidden, so he had to follow it. No one was going to take his girlfriend away.


	8. A Bounded Land

Salvia slowly opened her eyes. Where she looked in front of her was blurry. She blinked once and droopily got to her feet. Her eyes did finally clear her vision. It appeared that she was in a den in a tree. The den was half the size of the den she lived in Rio with Jalin. She looked around while she tried to remember what had happened to her.

"Let's see," she asked herself. "I was looking for…something. Uh… That's right! Something for the sand castle. I think it was going to be a decoration…or probably I got hungry. Well..um… This is hard."

"You were shot."

The voice startled her. She jumped up and nervously looked towards the entrance. A wave of relief engulfed her as she saw another bird. The bird in front of her was a male. The funny thing though, was that it had navy blue feathers and green eyes. His midnight black beak was about the same size of Jalin, and he stood an inch or two taller than her. She did not remote her sigh of relief to him. She just looked at him curiously.

"Shot? Mm… Then is this bird heaven?"

"Not that kind of shot," said the bird. "It looked like you were shot by a tranquilizer. The scientist just placed you in the den…which happens to be mine."

"Tranquilizer? Scientist? Your den? Can you please explain what is going on?"

The bird shook his head.

"I don't know. I was sent here from the zoo in the mainland to partake in some research or something."

"Research for what? I still don't get it."

"I don't understand it either. All I know is that we are here for research, and there is no escape."

"No escape?"

Salvia looked outside through the entrance.

"But it's an open land. I mean there're no cages or anything like that to stop us."

"But there is no escape."

Salvia couldn't take his answer and politely shoved him out of her way. She walked outside and looked around. Everything looked like before she was shot at. There were trees, bushes, and the cool breeze of the water, the afternoon sun, and the boundless sky. She looked back at the male macaw.

"Don't you see the open sky? We are free."

The male macaw sighed, facing down with his eyes close, and shook his head.

"Listen, Miss," he said as he slowly lifted his head back at Salvia and opened her eyes.

"There is no…"

Salvia was not on the branch anymore. The male macaw walked onto the branch and looked into the sky. He saw Salvia flying towards the north side of the bounded facility. Too bad his den was also near the boundary. He lifted himself off the branch and followed Salvia.

Salvia flew and flew and flew. She needed to go and find Jalin. He was not there when she woke up. It was just that male bird. She probably did not go too far from him. He was probably still at the beach, waiting for her return. He must be worried-sick, and she was to blame for making him worrying about her.

Salvia flew north until she smacked something. Her face planted itself on what appeared to be clear glass. She was only stopped for a second, her right side of the face planted on this domed glass. Then she started to fall. Shock and surprise made her forget how to fly. Luckily someone caught her in midair. She felt bird feet wrap around her wings. She glanced up to see the male bird. The male bird set her down on a nearby tree branch and landed next to her. He faced her.

"Now do you believe me?"

Salvia looked saddened at him.

"I'm sorry. I just thought-"

"Listen, I know it's not your fault for knowing. You're new here. It's to be expected."

"Yeah," Salvia said, slightly smiling. "So, uhhhh, where is here?"

"I think we're still in Maui."

"Oh, that's good."

There was a short silent before the male spoke.

"By the way, the name's Dustin."

Dustin put out his wing towards Salvia. Salvia grabbed it and shook his wing.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Salvia."

They ended their wing-shake. Dustin looked at Salvia for bottom to top, making sure he was to be right. Salvia looked at him curiously and felt uncomfortable.

"What are you doing?"

Dustin faced her.

"Just making sure."

"Making sure of what?"

"The species of bird you are. Tell me. What sanctuary did you come from?"

"Sanctuary?"

Dustin nodded.

"You are a Spix's Macaw, right?"

Salvia nodded.

"I am too," Dustin said. "You must have come from a zoo or something like that."

"You're saying if I was captive my whole live. Well, I did have an owner, but I am a wild macaw."

Dustin's green eyes widened.

"A wild macaw? Wow. Never met a wild one before. From where?"

"Rio. The sanctuary you talk about; we have one in Rio, but they don't really keep us captive. We're free birds."

"Free? Are there more wild ones?"

Salvia nodded.

"There's a good dozen. It's practically my whole family. But I always thought we were the only ones."

"Maybe in the wild," guessed Dustin. "I've met Spix's Macaws that are captive recently or from birth."

"So where you recently captured or have you always been in cages?"

"I was born in cages. This is the biggest cage I've been in. I love it."

Salvia dropped her smiling expression.

"You like it? But birds need a boundless sky; not a cage."

"But weren't you in a cage once? You told me you had an owner."

"I did, but I wasn't caged in all day. And now that I went back to the jungle, I love to explore. This is one of the reasons I'm up here with Jalin. So we can explore together."

Dustin looked at her in question.

"Who's Jalin?"

* * *

Jalin was on a roof of a small, rectangular facility. He had followed the jeep to this spot. It was not as far as one would think. It was only about ten miles away. It was still the afternoon, but the sun was soon going to set. This first sign of this was the orange streaks of light in the sky. He was pacing in circles on the gray, flat roof, thinking oh what to do.

"Think, Jalin," he whispered to himself. "Think. You saw the men entering the building. She's probably in there. Who knows what they're doing in there. Maybe the best thing to do is to enter through the vent of the AC unit. That could work. I could sneak in, rescue Salvia, and get the hell out of this honeymoon."

He nodded firmly.

"Yeah. I'll do that."

On the roof sat the AC unit. Jalin approached it and then stopped. The unit had bolts and nuts keeping it together. Jalin rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"That's right. The bolts. Um... New plan. Go through an open window… Mm…Actually, I should've thought of that first. Less painful."

He then bonked his head with his right, curled foot.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he said, bonking his head every time he said the word stupid.

He flew around the rectangular building that looked like two different sized simple mobile homes put together. He found a few windows, but they were closed. He finally did find one, but it was a tight squeeze…and the window looked kind of plastically. He went for it, trying to squeeze through the slow-sliding window. He struggled for a bit.

"C'mon, Jalin," he mumbled to himself. "C'mon. You're not fat. You can squeeze through."

Jalin struggled a bit more to get through the window.

"Maybe a small diet would be good. Just a small one."

He finally made it through the window, but he lost his footing to keep on the window mount and fell. Unfortunately for him, he hit his chin on the toilet rim and fell into the toilet bowl. It was clean, but just the fact that it was a toilet bowl made Jalin queasy. He hurried jump-flew to the white rim of the toilet. He widened his wings and looked at them with a disgusted face. He shook them once.

"Yuck."

He looked from his wings and saw that he was in a bathroom with a toilet and a sink. He flew over and landed on the white ceramic sink top. He looked at the cheap faucet, thinking on whether to quickly rinse himself off.

"No," he mumbled. "Salvia needs me."

He looked towards the ceiling and saw a vent above the door of the restroom. He flew up and noticed that some of the vent bars were broken off. He smiled. His luck was turning around. He flew up and entered the vent. The passageway of the vent was only lighted the other vents that lead to other rooms. Because it was still the afternoon, a few splashes of sunlight help to light the passageway more brightly. Jalin dusted his chest off and stiffly up. He walked down the ventilation system, hoping one of the vents would lead into a room where Salvia was kept captive.

* * *

Blu and Jewel were on the jungle ground. They neared the glass-like boundary of where they were being held captive. Blu knocked the glass and sighed.

"It looks like it's fiber glass."

He turned to Jewel. Jewel looked depressingly down.

"Another dead end," she stated and then paused for a short time. "I guess we are really stuck here."

They had arrived to this…cage about a couple of hours before the unconscious Salvia did. They both awoke in a den, remembering that they were put in boxed travel bird cages by two well-knowledge men. Blu was the first to wake, and then he woke up Jewel. After the small questions were asked, they all were linked to the big question: where are we? The two went exploring, but they made contact with the glass-like boundary on the east side of this domed cage…literally. After rising to their feet from the fall and rubbing their slightly bashed heads, they examined their situation. It seemed like they were trapped, but it seemed improbable. The area was vast. There was no way the whole area was caged. Jewel suggested that the other side was not bounded by this glassy plastic. But now, the possibility that it was bounded grew higher.

"What do you think we need to do?" asked Jewel.

Blu thought about it, brushing the side of his head.

"I…I don't know. This plastic can't be easily broken."

Jewel huffed in disappointment.

"Then we're trap."

Blu looked at his mate. He hated to see her so sad. It was a rare sight, but it was a sight that could go unseen. He looked through the glass. Outside was the freedom they were accustomed to. He looked back. Though the vegetation and the soil was the same, there was no sense of free exploration and discovery. Everything was confined now. Blu sighed.

"I'm sorry, Jewel. I'm not sure if-"

"Blu, it's not your fault. Let's just find food. It'll be easier to think on a full stomach."

Blu nodded. The two macaws flew off to find food in this strange cage. Jewel was right. They would think more clearly after they had eaten something. They would try again to find a escape, but their efforts will soon be futile. In this secluded world, there was no hope for escape.


	9. Failure Impossible

As Jalin continued to walk down the ventilation system, he heard a discussion from below. It was coming from the air vent in front of him. He walked up to the vent and perched down near the edge, looking below through the vent. He saw the room below him was an office. It had a cubical feel to it, but it was bigger. In the normal-looking office, there were two men. One was sitting on a rotating chair, and the other sat across from him. A large desk separated the two men.

"So, you have everything you need for your experiment, Doctor," said the man in the rotating chair.

The man in the swiveling chair was bulkier than the man in front of him. He had darkened, short hair and a bushy mustache. He had brownish eyes that were small and sat up on the chair at the height of three feet, meaning he was probably five and a half feet tall. He wore a simple business outfit of a black jacket over a red dress shirt and lightly white-striped, black pants. The other man, the six-foot-tall doctor, wore a long-sleeved polo shirt colored blue. He wore round, thin glasses and had short, spiked brownish hair. His eyes were mostly blue. The doctor was standing in front of the man in the chair.

"Well, Sir, we're almost done with getting the selected species of birds and ground mammals."

"Dammit Johnson! We were supposed to start yesterday with the tests."

"But Sir, my approval was a week ago. It takes a while."

"Even in this age. C'mon, Johnson. Ever since the Japanese made their robots to do the nit-picking for us, our lives couldn't be easier."

"But Sir, we didn't have the budget to buy any robots. We had to hire locals."

The man in the chair signed.

"Fine, but Johnson, you have better hurry."

"Don't worry. We have the dome glass made and put, which shorted our budget a lot. We also got a lot of animals to start my experiment."

"Johnson," the man said kindly, "I was hired to keep you in line. Why are you fucking me, Johnson? You better hurry, or else EPA will be all over my ass."

"Um, Sir? Didn't EPA give us two weeks to start?"

"That's why we need to hurry."

"I know the urgency, but it has only been a week."

"Johnson, we just had this conversation."

"But we don't have robots. Listen, the dome is set, and we'll start collecting data as we collect more birds-"

"Good."

"-but the data might get screwed."

"I don't care about the data. Get to work."

"But my work is analyzing the data."

"And my job is to keep you working."

"But…"

Johnson looked at his boss, who was obviously getting upset with his intelligent questions. Johnson just shrugged it off.

"Okay."

Johnson turned around and walked towards the door. He opened it and walked through it. Before he closed it behind him, Dr. Johnson glanced back at his boss.

"Um… Sir, where did you go to school?"

"I got my BA in Management at Devry University. Why do you ask?"

Dr. Johnson formed a small smile.

"Just… My sister is deciding to get a degree in management," he lied. "I was just wondering if the school you went to would be right for her."

The man smiled.

"Yep. Devry University is where it's at."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks."

Dr. Johnson closed the door behind him and went to his laboratory to meet with his team. The man just looked at the door and resumed writing down on the paper on the desk.

"What an ass."

Jalin had watched the whole thing. Data? What data? What were they talking about? Were they doing some type of experiment? Jalin had also heard that birds were involved. What were they doing with the birds? What type of experiment? Was the purpose of the glass dome was to keep the birds in order to perform this experiment? This experiment that Salvia would also be part of? Jalin wouldn't allow them. What right did they have to perform experiment on his m… future mat… girlfriend… no. She was his future mate. There was going to be no childish affairs. Salvia was his future mate, and he was the same to her. Now, he just had to get her out of here, try to find his parents, and get the hell out of Hawaii. Nothing was going to stop him.

Jalin looked at the path ahead of him and proceeded down the ventilation system.

* * *

"So, this Jalin is your boyfriend?"

Salvia nodded.

"Yeah. We came to Hawaii for a honeymoon, but then this happened. Oh, if I didn't even suggest a honeymoon, we wouldn't be separated. This reminds me the first time I was separated from him. This time, it's not his fault though."

"Calm down, Salvia."

"Calm down? Dustin, we're trapped. We're supposed to be free birds."

"I know, but we're trap."

Salvia shook her head.

"I refuse to believe it."

From the branch she stood on, she looked around the area. She saw trees, a few birds, several plants and shrubs, and a small waterway. Dustin looked at her curious.

"What are you looking for?"

"Anything unusual. Like a building or something. I mean, if humans made this glass dome, there has to be a building near here."

"You mean the one towards the southeast, I think."

Salvia turned around and beamed at Dustin.

"You know where it is?"

Dustin nodded.

"I can take you there, but first, I'm hungry."

"Hungry? Oh, yeah. I forgot that I've missed a meal."

"C'mon. There's a river down below. There should be food there."

"Alright. Let's eat and then get out of here."

The two macaws flew off the branch and headed towards the running waterway.

* * *

Jalin neared another vent. He looked down and saw that the room below him was a laboratory. It was just a standard laboratory. It had brown cabinets and drawers with black countertops. Glassware, thermometers, chemicals, and other devices used to combat health issues were stored in the glass-window bordered cabinets and completely covered drawers. The cabinets and drawers were aligned with the walls, and there were four large tables towards the center of the room. Jalin noticed the man he saw minutes ago. The man named Dr. Johnson stood in front of two men and one woman. The three people had lab coats over some dress clothes they wore. The man and woman had blond hair, and the other man had brown hair. The men both had brown eyes and the blond woman had green eyes. The woman had a lighter skin complexion from the other two men that had tan-white skin. They were soaking into what Dr. Johnson was saying.

"So Mr. Dickson wants this project to be pushed faster."

"But we're pushing as quickly as we can," said the man with dirty blond hair and brown eyes.

"I'm aware of that Dr. Fisher… Well, do we have enough test subjects."

"Almost," the female doctor said.

"Almost? Would you mind telling us how many subjects we have, Dr. Moltex?"

"Well, we have about eighty-three specimens to test."

"Mmm…. A little less, but we can still perform the experiment. With the dome set up, I think it's goal time. Dr. Graco, may you show us the map."

The brown-haired male doctor opened one of the drawers. He pulled out a folded piece of paper, closed the drawer, and unfolded the piece of paper of the table. The paper turned out to be a map that only charted the area of the dome, inside and some out. Dr. Graco pointed out an area in particular.

"It seems this area is most preferred by macaws."

"Good. We should set up more cameras there."

Jalin could not really see where 'there' was. He basically got on the barred vent grate to get a closer look. The grate vent, which was loosely installed due to time, easily gave in, and Jalin fell onto the table surprised. He smacked against the map and quickly opened his eyes. He looked up to see the doctors looking at him. He soon felt Dr. Moltex's soft hands grabbing him and pulling him closer to her face.

"Seems this is a Spix's Macaw."

"Probably got trapped in the ventilation," pointed out Dr. Fisher.

"Oh dear. The lab assistants forgot to tag him."

Dr. Johnson sighed.

"Can't get good work these days, even from a college graduate. Dr. Moltex, would you mind tagging him and putting him in the dome? With him, this raises the number to eighty-four birds."


	10. An Uncomfortable Morning

His vision of the world he saw returned to him. Jalin's sight cleared, and he stood up. He looked around and noticed he was in a tree den. The chirping of birds outside sunlight that had entered the den and erased most of the darkened spots in the den made it feel that he was in Rio. He looked down, blinking slowly and rubbed his head.

Was it…was it all a dream, he thought. It felt so real. I mean, it felt that I was actually saving Salvia from… Wait. Salvia.

He looked around the den once more and saw his hazel-eyed girlfriend was nowhere to be seen. He breathed smoothly, trying to calm himself.

"Alright," he whispered to himself. "Jalin, it was just a dream. She could be just getting food."

He then heard a slight sound of fluttering wings. It seemed to be close by. Then, he heard a voice.

"Hopefully, he's not awake yet."

Jalin realized it was a voice of a female sounding like his girlfriend. He smiled and walked to the entrance to see a little blue macaw with some sort of fruit. It appeared to be a mango. Jalin smiled.

"Salvia, you went to go get food?"

The voice startled her.

"Oh," she said with her back facing him, "I didn't know you were awake."

"Salvia, what's wrong with your voice?"

"Salvia? Who's this Salvia?"

Jalin figured she was just playing a game. He smiled and thought of something. He walked forward to her and placed his wings on her shoulders. She immediately tensed up. Jalin smirked.

"You seem tense. Here, let me make it better."

As Jalin moved his face closer to her head, he grabbed her chin with his right wing and moved her face around to face his face. He was smiling contently the whole time, but his smile faded away when he saw green eyes and a darkened charcoal beak. He also saw agitation in those green eyes.

"You're…you're not Salvia."

The female's eyes narrowed. A slap went across Jalin's face so powerfully that he lost his footing and fell of the tree. A patch of Akoko, a type of plant categorized as a ground cover, cushioned his fall as he made it to the ground. He opened his eyes and lifted his head up slightly to only have it drop to the ground again. The cause of this was basically a reaction to when the female bird landed on his body. He lifted his head slightly up again to see the blue macaw staring him down angrily.

"What nerve! What kind of girl do you think I am? I'm not that easy, buddy."

"But…I thought… Never mind."

The female bird looked at him curiously.

"Huh? Did you think I was someone else?"

There was a pause before she asked another question.

"Did you think I was this Salvia bird?"

Jalin nodded.

"Why would you think that?" asked the female.

"Well, aren't you a Spix's Macaw?"

The female nodded.

"Since we're few in numbers, I thought…," Jalin began and then soon realized something. "Wait! You're a Spix's Macaw. I thought my folks, siblings, and I were the last ones."

"Well, I grew up with several Spix's Macaws."

"Several? We have more in Brazil?"

"Brazil? I'm from Qatar."

"Qatar? Wh…where's that?"

"In the Middle East."

Jalin gulped.

"Are…are you some type of bird working for al-Qaeda?"

The bird narrowed her eyes and pressed down on Jalin's chest with her right foot."

"Just because I grew up in the Middle East doesn't mean I'm a terrorist."

"But," Jalin managed to squeal out. "You're suff-o-ca-ting m-m-e."

The female released her foot, and Jalin took in a big breath.

"Thank you," he breathed. "And I'm sorry. Can you please get off of me?"

The female obeyed and walked off his belly. Jalin stood up and confronted her.

"Well," began Jalin. "Before I ask the questions, let me introduce myself. I'm Jalin."

"My name's Dinah."

"Okay, Dinah. Um… I mean I'm so confused. I thought we in Brazil were the last Spix's Macaws."

"Maybe in the wild," Dinah said. "As far as I know, there are a few conservations that protect our species. I have never been to them, but other birds transferred to Qatar have."

"So there are more of us?"

Dinah nodded.

"Yep. A couple of us were transferred here."

"Here? Where is exactly here?"

"Hawaii."

Jalin gasped.

"So it wasn't a dream."

"What wasn't a dream?"

"My girlfriend and I came here to spend some time exploring and relaxing in Hawaii, but she was captured and taken here."

"Girlfriend? Was she the one you confused me with? This Salvia bird?"

Jalin nodded.

"And you came here to save her?"

Jalin nodded again.

"Boy, you're brave and stupid at the same time."

Jalin narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I do not know why and who is in charge, but this large area has been sealed off by men so no birds can escape. Once you're in, you can never get out."

"Sealed off? It can't be that big of an area then."

Dinah sighed.

"You underestimate a lot of things. Come. I'll show you."

The two birds took to the skies, Dinah leading the way.

* * *

Dustin was lying in his den, sleeping. He had spent the day yesterday showing Salvia around. Now, he was tired flapping around all day. He had gone to sleep in the evening and had not woken up yet. On the other wing, Salvia was wide awake. She perched herself on the branch directly in front of the den's entrance. She just looked out at this closed area that was probably going to be her new home.

I should've never brought up this idea, she thought with a saddened look. Jalin was right. I wanted this honeymoon to go smoothly, but now, I'm stuck here. I don't know where my Jalin is, but I know he's safe.

A tear slid down her eye.

"What's wrong?"

Salvia turned towards the entrance of the den to see a yawning Dustin.

"Dustin, you're awake."

"Yeah. Still tired though, but awake for the most part."

He let out another yawn.

"What's wrong? Why are you out here?"

"Just thinking."

Dustin walked up to her and perched beside her.

"About what?"

"Oh… Just Jalin."

"Your boyfriend?"

Salvia nodded.

"I'm worrying about him. I hope he's alright."

Dustin thought about what to say, making sure it was not that cheesy.

"This Jalin, you say he's smart?"

Salvia knew that he was not smart all the time and was very clumsy in rationalizing ideas, but she decided to go with the simple answer.

"Yes."

"Then you have nothing to worry about."

Salvia faced Dustin.

"If he really loves you, he will find a way to get you out."

"That's what I'm afraid of. What if he…"

Salvia could not finish as a tear went down her cheek from each of her eyes.

"Salvia, don't think that."

"That's easy for you to say Dustin. You don't know how I feel."

Dustin sighed.

"You're right, and I will never know. All I can do is comfort you."

Salvia looked back into the forest, returning to her thoughts. Dustin got to his feet.

"I'm going to get some food."

Dustin flapped his wings and took off to scavenge for food. Salvia watched him leave, focusing her thoughts on him.

Maybe I was too rough with him. He is helping me adjust to this new lifestyle. It's like the jungles in Rio, but this time, I have to adjust without Jalin. Jalin… I haven't given up on you, but I need to still live. I'll wait for you until then.

Suddenly, Salvia felt the branch move. Someone landed, but it couldn't be Dustin. Salvia looked to her left to see a Blue-Throated Macaw. To her right was a Crimson Shining Parrot. Salvia got to her feet and looked at the two birds.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey," replied the macaw.

"What's a babe like you doing out here all alone?" asked Parrot.

"Babe?" questioned Salvia agitatedly. "What kind of bird do you think I am?"

"A Spix's Macaw," answered the parrot.

The two macaws looked at the parrot confusedly. The male macaw looked down at Salvia.

"Don't listen to him. What he meant to say is that… Well, I don't know."

"You guys are extremely stupid," said Salvia.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of wings grab her shoulders firmly. She looked up behind her shoulders to see the parrot had grabbed her.

"Hey! Let go off me! What do you think-"

The macaw clamped her beak tight with his wings. Salvia tried to break loose by flapping her wings, but the parrot moved his wings from her shoulders quickly and secured her wings from flapping.

"My," the parrot said. "She looks more lovely up close."

The male macaw nodded.

"Let's get her in the den."

Carefully, the two male birds lead the squirming Salvia towards the den. As they did, thoughts came to Salvia.

No. This can't be it. To be these two's plaything. I can't allow it. But what do I do? I mean, they got me pinned. Clever bastards… I wanted Jalin to be my first. Why… Why is life so cruel? What did I do to deserve this?

"Hey, Marcus," said the parrot. "Do we need leaves?"

"We won't have time."

Salvia's eyes widened as she struggled to get out more violently. It did not do much. The birds had a firm grasp on here.

"Boy, this is going-"

From the sky above, a blue bird zoomed towards the parrot and rammed him off the branch. Salvia fell as the parrot pulled her down with him. She recovered her fall and flew up to the branch to fight off the blue macaw. It looked like someone beat her to it. A female Spix's Macaw had pinned the Blue-Throated Macaw named Marcus down on the branch, pressing down on his throat. She had a snarl look.

"Don't you dare! What kind of bird does that!"

The bird that had rammed the bird down landed on the branch.

"Honey, that parrot is kind of out of it."

The female macaw squeezed the throat of the pinned-down macaw.

"You better stay away," she threatened to Marcus.

"Heh… Don't worry… Wwweee'll stay a-way."

"Good."

The female macaw got off and pushed him off the side. A Crimson Shining Parrot was just barely getting to his feet when his friend's body fell onto off him, bonking his head and making him fall again. Both birds slipped into unconsciousness.

Salvia looked at her saviors. She was glad that they came to her rescue, but she was confused on what they were doing here. Last time she saw them was in Rio, living their lives as an old couple. What were they doing in Hawaii?

"Mom? Dad?"


	11. Dinah

Salvia just looked at her saviors. Out all of the birds, she never imagined Blu and Jewel coming to her aid. Even a predator would be more probable. She just stared at her parents in disbelief. Blu and Jewel faced each other, concerned, and they looked back at Salvia.

"Hi Salvia," said Jewel kind of nervously.

"Mom. Dad. What are you doing here?"

"Great way to say hi to your parents," retorted Blu.

Jewel elbowed him lightly. Salvia shook her head.

"It's not like I'm not grateful or anything like that. It's just that...uhhhhh... What are you doing here?"

"Just on vacation."

Salvia half-closed her eyes. Blu nervously straightened up and smiled.

"No offense, but how can I buy that, Dad."

"Jewel just wanted to get out of Rio for a bit."

Jewel sighed and faced her mate.

"There's no point in lying."

She looked back at Salvia.

"Listen Salvia. I just wanted to come to Hawaii and convinced your father to come here. See, we were captured like you."

"Let me guess," said Salvia blankly. "Jalin invited you to come."

Blu rubbed the back of his neck.

"Invite is such a powerful world."

Salvia narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, when I find that bird..."

"Salvia," said Jewel. "Calm down. Why are you mad that we're here?"

Salvia lightened her expression and breathed calmly.

"It's not that I don't want you here. It's just that... Jalin, why did he lie to me again?"

"Well," began Blu. "let's be honest, Salvia. Was it going to be alright with you if we tagged alone with you?"

Salvia's eyes widened. She looked down at the tree branch and huffed in realization.

"I just wanted me and Jalin to come, so we could spend time together. Just us."

She faced her parents and smiled.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I guess I would feel uncomfortable if you would tag along. I just wanted to be truly alone with Jalin. But...I guess I'm grateful you're here. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for saving me."

"No problem," said Blu. "You're our daughter. We have to protect you."

"So, should we wait for Jalin?" asked Jewel.

"But I can't find him," said Salvia.

Blu and Jewel looked curiously at their daughter.

"Can't find him? But...you did get caught together, right?"

Salvia shook her head.

"It was only me. I awoke in this den that belonged to another Spix's Macaw."

Jewel and Blu faced each other confused. They looked back at Salvia.

"Another Spix's Macaw?" questioned Blu. "Are you sure?"

Salvia nodded.

"Should we wait for him in the den?"

Having the crooks in the back of his head, he peeked down from the branch. On the ground of this imitation of a jungle, he gasped at his findings.

"The two pervs. They're gone."

"Guess we sent them away with their tails between their legs," said a smiling Jewel. "Alright, Salvia. Let's wait for this bird."

The three Spix's Macaws entered the den and awaited for the return of Dustin.

* * *

Jalin and Dinah were on the dirt ground with small, green patches at the end of the forest. Similar to when Blu, Jewel, and Salvia saw it, Jalin could not believe it. A plastic-like barrier blocked the outside. He had seen it before. It was near the building he infatuated in and was captured. He just was not expecting for it to extend over a vast area.

"Wow," he breathed. "The engineering power must've been massive. This could easily get an episode on Modern Marvels, if it was still around. Probably a thirty-minute documentary by PBS at best."

He faced Dinah. She was just giving him a confused look.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Modern Marvels?"

"Oh. It used to be a show on television on the History Channel."

"Television? I thought you said you lived in the jungle."

"Yeah."

"So, how could you see TV? Does the jungle have cable?"

"Sometimes, I wish, but we just go over to a human friend's house to watch it."

"You're friends with a human?"

"Five to be exact. Well, probably eight because I met Abe's kids like a year or two ago."

"So a wild bird is friends with humans? How?"

"Well, to make a long story short, we live in a bird sanctuary. I befriended three humans there when I was a chick. Soon after that, I met Abe. A year later, I met his future wife."

"... Wait. So you're not actually a wild bird?"

"What do you mean?"

"These humans at the sanctuary feed you and keep you safe?"

Jalin shook his head.

"We are free to roam around. They come from time to time to check on us, but we are free like a married man is free from his parents."

Jalin looked back to see the transparent structure. He tapped it.

"Some sort of composite. Probably glass fibers molded into a hard plastic-like material. Could be E-glass they used. Strong enough to keep the toughest animals in. Probably can deflect small things, but probably a big boulder can break it."

Jalin looked back at Dinah. A blank stare radiated from her face. She rubbed the back of her head and gave Jalin a confused look.

"What?" she asked, extending her opened wings out towards the ground.

Jalin smiled, thinking her stance was funny.

"Oh. I'm not sure if you had any birds like me. See, I read a lot of books and-"

"Not that. Why would you think E-glass fibers were used? Why not S-glass?"

Jalin just stood there, looking at Dinah.

"W-what?"

"Sure E-glass is commonly used, but S-glass has a higher tensile strength."

"How do you know...um...this?"

"You just said you read a lot of books and probably know a lot. Not all birds are in the dark. I can read and write. Before I was transferred, I was reading about thermal conductivity and how to solve it since it relates to electrical resistance in materials."

"Wha-wha-ho-how... You read and write and know science?"

"Concept-wise. Still horrible at math."

"But-but-but... I mean... I've never met another macaw outside our family who is scientifically smart."

Dinah blushed a little.

"Well, when your future mate leaves you for a hot, dumb bimbo..."

"You had a future mate?"

"Yeah. It was great for a few months, but he just couldn't be the dumb one. He left me. He was...probably the only male I would get. I'm...not very sought out for compared to the other females in the preservation program. I'm like a nerd competing with cheerleaders in high school."

Dinah sighed and looked to the ground.

"Don't say that," Jalin encouraged. "I thought the same way, but if you truly want something, nothing is going to stand in your way. Probably the guy was never meant for you. You will find a guy. After all, you're not only smart, but you are a pretty bird."

Dinah looked up and saw the Jalin was being serious as he said that. She gave him a small smile.

"Thanks Jalin... Wait. What did you say before that encouraging statement... Thank you for it again."

"The statement before? That I've never met macaws outside our family that are smart."

"Outside your family? So you're girlfriend is...your sister?"

"Technically, but we never grew up together."

"But-"

"Remember, in the animal kingdom, incest is okay, like in the state of Alabama. Just not towards humans, except for Alabama. Besides, we were the only ones. It was like if two people were left on Earth, and they were siblings. They have to repopulate the world if they wanted to not go extinct."

Dinah giggled.

"Looks like someone has a thing with Alabama... What is that?"

"It's a state from the United States."

"But I thought you were from Brazil."

"I read geography books."

Dinah formed a small smile and lightly wing-faced her forehead.

"Duh for me."

"But going back, how do we escape?" wondered Jalin. "If this composite, which I still thinks it has E-glass fibers, covers the whole forest, then where could the escape be?"

"This composite, which I guarantee has S-glass fibers, does circle the whole area, but that building seems like its weak point."

Jalin looked at her curiously.

"Wait. You mean the big, mobile house."

"I think so, if you're referring to the gray building."

"So, you know where it is?"

Dinah nodded.

"Then can you show me?"

"Why?"

Jalin gave Dinah a blank stare. Dinah quickly caught on.

"Oh yeah. You're a 'wild' bird. Yeah, I'll show you."

Jalin smiled.

"Okay. Tonight, I'll sneak into it. I just need to find Salvia first."

"Oh, yeah," lightly smiled Dinah. "You're girlfriend."

Jalin nodded.

"Dinah, could you help me? I don't know my way around this forest."

"Sure."

"Great," said a happy Jalin. "C'mon."

Jalin took to the skies and headed towards the remote part of the area. Dinah just looked at him briefly, dropping her smile slightly. She then took off and caught up with Jalin.


	12. Dustin

"So you got captured by a man too?"

Jewel shook her head.

"We were just enjoying breakfast when we were captured," explained Blu. "We were put in cages, and by the time we woke up, we were in a den. It was all so weird."

Blu and Jewel had just explained to Salvia on why they were here. As Salvia already knew, Jalin had invited them. The reason why was because of comfort and guidance. It angered Salvia at first, but as she understood, it slowly dimmed down. Of course, it was still there, especially by the fact Jalin had kept Blu and Jewel hidden from her. It was like if he was uncomfortable sharing his ideas with her. He was doing his own thing while she had no clue. Still, she was glad that her parents were there. If they were not there, she would have been a toy shared between two birds. Salvia looked down at the floor of the tree den, thinking.

"I wonder what they have in-store for us," she uttered.

"Probably an experiment of some kind," said Blu. "Why else would they contain birds by a domed cage."

"Yeah," agreed Jewel.

She sighed and leaned against Blu's chest. He wrapped his wings around her.

"I just wish we were back in Rio," said a teary Jewel.

"There, there Jewel," comforted Blu. "We'll get out of here... I just need to know how."

Salvia lifted her head up and faced her parents.

"But Daddy, we need to find Jalin."

"I know...I know. We can't just leave him here."

Jewel looked out of the den from where she was. She stood in shock. It was not Jalin, but the fact that she saw another Spix's Macaw not related to the Blu family was a sight she was uncomfortable seeing. She politely spoke.

"Is that your friend?"

Blu looked forward towards the entrance of the den as Salvia turned her head back to see the entrance. Coming into the den was a Spix's Macaw. The macaw had dark blue feathers and green eyes. His beak was as dark as the midnight sky under a new moon. He was a little taller than Jalin, but it could go unnoticed. He carried a batch of three bananas. He set them aside near the entrance and looked from Salvia to the two new birds. They smiled at him.

"Did I... Did I miss something?"

"These are my parents, Dustin," answered Salvia.

"Parents?" wondered Dustin as he walked up to Salvia. "I thought your parents lived in Rio."

"Yeah," said Blu, "but we're visiting...well...we were visiting the island before we got captured."

"Oh. So...you're tourists?"

Blu and Jewel nodded.

"But now we're stuck here," grunted Jewel. "Luckily, we found Salvia."

"Oh," said Dustin, rubbing the back of his neck. "Say, um, how did you get here? Hawaii, I mean."

"By plane," Blu simply answered.

"You didn't fly?"

"Yes, we did."

"By your wings."

"Oh," said Blu and then shook his head. "We snuck onto a plane after our son told us which one he was boarding."

"Your son is here too?" wondered Dustin.

"Yes," said Jewel. "His name is Jalin."

"Jalin?" he replied with an astonished and disgusted face.

He turned back to Salvia, who gave him a confused look.

"You're doing your own brother?!"

Salvia blushed.

"We haven't really done anything."

"You know what I mean! Salvia...why?"

"I love him. I don't care if he's my brother. It doesn't feel like it."

"Doesn't feel like it?! He's your brother!"

"I know, but we never grew up with each other. The last time I saw him, I was a tiny, infant chick and he was one and a half. We grew apart for ten years not knowing each other. Though we are from the same family, we came together as if we were not."

"But doesn't it gross you out?"

"In the animal kingdom, it's okay. Dogs mate with each other, even though they are related."

"But that's why they're called dogs."

"But do you get my point?"

"Yes, but... I don't know."

"Look, Dustin," said Blu. "I mated with Jewel, but who knows? She could be my long-lost sister."

Jewel looked up at Blu with a disgusted face. He sensed her stare and looked down.

"Please don't put that thought in me," Jewel strictly and simply said.

Dustin looked from the Blu couple to Salvia.

"But what about now?"

"What do you mean?"

"You just meant another Spix's Macaw, me, and there are plenty more in here and across the globe."

"Spix's Macaws in here?" wondered Blu.

Dustin faced Blu and nodded.

"Yes. There are a few more Spix's Macaws other than me. I come from Loro Parque in Spain. That's the most recent I've been in. I was born in the Philippines in their reservation and was transferred to Spain five years ago, and then I was transferred here."

"So there are more? Astonishing. I wonder why Tulio never mentioned this."

"I guess he wanted a wild bird," said Jewel.

"But I wasn't wild. I was captive."

"Maybe not to the scientists. I don't think Tulio wanted to go through the process of getting a male Spix's Macaw from one of those reservations."

Blu thought about it.

"So it was easier to fly across three countries, convince Linda to go to Rio immediately, and try to make me love you than filling out papers and wait for a bird to come to him? ...I can see that."

"It doesn't change anything about what I feel towards Jalin," said Salvia. "Listen, we do need to get out of here, but we need to find Jalin first. I'm worried about him."

Salvia sighed and looked down. A lone tear splattered on the floor. Dustin looked at Salvia, almost like if he was studying her. He opened his beak.

"Okay."

Salvia looked up as Blu and Jewel faced him.

"We'll look for this Jalin bird so you guys can get out of here."

"Are you going to escape to?" asked Jewel.

"I have lived all my life in reservations. How can I survive out there?"

Salvia and Blu turned towards each other and smiled. They faced Dustin.

"Welcome to the club," said Blu.

Dustin's expression lightened.

"Yeah," smiled Salvia. "My daddy and I were captive birds for a very long time, and now we live in the jungle. You just need to know what to do and you'll be fine. It's easy."

Blu rubbed the back of his neck, tilting his head slightly.

"Yeah... Kind of...but once you get the hang of things, it's...gets easier."

Dustin slowly smiled.

"You think I can?"

Salvia nodded. Dustin beamed.

"Alright. I'll give this jungle-thing a try, but first, we need to bust out of here. Let's eat up, and I'll take you to where you can escape from."

The Blu family agreed. The macaws gathered around the meal Dustin brought and began to eat.

* * *

Jalin and Dinah landed on a tree branch high above the ground compared to the branches high above the ground of other trees. They looked out of the area, only to see tree tops, a vast sky, and the transparent dome. Behind the domes, they saw a flock of seagulls landing on a nearby beach. They were far off in the distance. Jalin sighed, which caused Dinah to look at him.

"Hey. What's up, Jalin?"

"Well, I'm thinking. This place is pretty big. How can we find her? She could be anywhere, and if she's flying to different spots trying to find me, it'll make things harder."

Dinah thought about how she could be of help instead of just aiding Jalin in this wild-goose-chase.

"Well, the dome is created by humans and probably monitored by scientists. They monitor by the use of hidden cameras. I know because one of the fruits I picked up one day was a hidden camera."

Jalin looked back with a baffled expression.

"Hidden cameras? God, I feel so uncomfortable now... Wait. How did you yank the fruit with the camera off the stem?"

"I bashed it with a rock."

"Woah. You really wanted that fruit."

"Of course. It was the first papaya I've seen in a while. It was the perfect size to carry too."

"You must really like papayas then?"

Dinah nodded.

"It's my favorite fruit...um... What's yours?"

"That's easy," smiled Jalin. "The blackberry."

"Blackberry? What's that?"

Jalin's eyes widened.

"You never had a blackberry before."

Dinah shook her head.

"Well, when we get out of here, I'll give you one."

"Get me out of here?"

"Yeah. Don't you want to?"

Dinah gave Jalin a soft, serious expression. With no words exchanged, Jalin understood.

"You don't want to escape?"

"I've lived in reservations all my life. It's only logical I stay."

"Logical? Yes, but you're a bird. Logic also says you should be free."

"Free? I can't be free. I don't know where to get food, how to find a good shelter, and how to survive harsh situations."

Jalin shook his head.

"No. I'm pretty sure you know how."

"But I-"

"This reservation is the closest to the jungle, but it feels like a jungle. Obviously, you can look for trees with fruit on them. That's like in the jungle. You found a tree den in a safe place. That's like in the jungle. Most situations are not hostile in the jungle unless you upset some birds, like my dad."

"But they are all different. In here, every other tree has fruits or nuts, so you technically aren't hunting down for a fruit. Plus, they are arranged in a certain order to make it easier to find. For shelter, you walk up in a den and it's your assigned home. You don't have to look for one. Location is safe since it's only birds and some ground animals like rats and anteaters. There are no predators here. And probably the most horrible thing here is accidentally running into the dome. There's no way I can live in the jungle."

"Then...then I'll teach you."

Dinah's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?"

"Yeah. If you agree to get out with me and my girlfriend, I'll teach you. No bird shouldn't be free."

"Really?"

"Yes, and I'll be the best teacher you ever had."

"Thanks Jalin. I really appreciate it."

"You're wel-"

Before he finished his sentence, Dinah flung onto him rather quickly and kissed him.


	13. Awkwardness

Jalin felt it; the kiss. It would have been fine, if it was from his future soul mate, his fiancée, Salvia. But…it was not for her. He felt the tip of Dinah's tongue as Dinah forcefully pressed her beak against his. She had caught him off guard, with his mouth opened. Finally, after the two seconds of shock got over him, he picked up his wings and grabbed Dinah's body. He pushed her back, finally able to part her beak away from his. She had her eyes close the whole time as she had shared a kiss with Jalin. She slowly opened her eyes and faced Jalin with disappointment in them. Jalin looked both irritated and confused.

"Dinah!"

Dinah could not respond and shyly looked away.

"Why did you do that?"

A moment passed with no answer.

"Answer me!" Jalin demand as he shook her twice, squeezing his grip on her wings. "Dinah!"

Dinah looked back with sorrow in her eyes.

"Jalin, you're hurting me."

Jalin relaxed a bit and sighed. He released Dinah. Having a hard time to face Jalin, she looked down at his feet.

"Dinah," came Jalin's smooth voice.

Dinah unsurely tilted her head up to see Jalin's calm expression.

"Why did you do that?" Jalin asked again.

"I…I don't know," she said shyly.

"But Dinah, you must had a reason."

"Well… I…"

Dinah faced Jalin and looked into his tense eyes. She sighed.

"Oh my gosh. Jalin, I… That kiss…was a mistake. I'm…I'm sorry."

"But that doesn't answer my question."

"Listen, Jalin. I'm sorry. It was just the way you talked and the fun we had. You're also funny, smart, and handsome… Oh, wait. Stop, Dinah. Stop."

Dinah sighed.

"I'm so embarrassed," she stated, looking away from Jalin.

"Dinah," breathed Jalin.

"I know that you have a girlfriend. What kind of bird am I for kissing a taken bird? I'm horrible. God, what if your girlfriend finds out? It'll be my fault, and then she'll beat me up or something like that. Then word will spread, and I'll never find a mate. And…and-"

Jalin placed a wing on Dinah's shoulder. She looked back at Jalin. She breathed slowly to relax

"Dinah, just calm down. That kiss… It was nothing more than a mistake. It doesn't change the fact my heart belongs to Salvia. I will continue to be your friend if you're okay with that."

Dinah half-closed her eyes.

"Kind of harsh when you say the kiss was nothing more than a mistake."

Jalin flinched.

"Well…I…"

"Relax, Jalin. I know what you meant, but I can't lead you to the place."

"But Dinah-"

"Here. I'll tell you to go."

Dinah looked around, examining the area.

"We're close."

She pointed towards the direction where the building was.

"If you continue to go south, you will bonk into it. If not, you'll reach the end of the doom. If that happens, get to higher altitude to find the building. If that doesn't happen, continue to fly along the dome's edge at that altitude until you see it."

"But Dinah, you could always come. We are still friends. Friends help other friends. I was going to show you how to live in the wild. It is more enjoyable than just being in cages all your life."

Dinah shook her head.

"No. I can't. I just…"

"Is it all because of that one kiss? Remember, you kissed me."

Dinah narrowed her eyes and grabbed Jalin violently.

"It sounds like you're saying it's my fault!"

"Well…it is. You did-"

Dinah slapped Jalin across the face.

"Ow!"

"You just don't get it."

"Get what? The fact that you want to be with me? The fact that you may even love me?"

Dinah's green eyes widened. She let go of Jalin, slightly blushing.

"I don't know. I…I have to go."

Dinah took to the skies and flew as fast as she could. Jalin just watch this curious bird leave. He sighed.

"How many times have birds hit on me? Like ten I think. Might be less though."

He sighed.

"Well, I got the direction. I should go."

He faced south and opened his wings to take off. His thoughts stopped him from flying for a moment. He looked back, up into the sky.

"Still, I wish Dinah was at my side. Not as a future mate. My heart is already taken by Salvia. I just wish we can be friends."

Jalin then faced forward.

"I'll let her be. She's too embarrassed to see me, but I will come back for her. I made a deal with her, and I won't break it."

Jalin took to the sky and headed in the direction of the building.

* * *

Dinah looked back as she flew and saw no one following her. She had been flying for a half an hour now. Thoughts were circling around her mind, replaying the events what was happened. What she did…may have affected his relationship with this Salvia. Soon, she found difficulty to fly; her thoughts were heavy. She looked down and found a branch to rest on. She landed on the branch and sighed.

"What have I done? …Get a grip, Dinah. No one knows besides me and Jalin. Someone could've been watching… Oh, shoot. What if someone saw, but probably they won't know. I mean how can they? But how about if a bird knew Salvia and… Dammit Dinah! Get a hold of yourself? I mean, what is the worst that can happen…besides all the things I've been thinking about… Crap. Just wish I've never met him."

"Um…excuse me."

Dinah flinched at the voice near her. She looked to her right. There stood a light blue Spix's Macaw with dark blue wing tips and hazel eyes. She was about her height and looked elegant. Dinah smiled at this stranger.

"Oh…hi."

"Hi."

Dinah also noticed that there were birds behind this one. They were Spix's Macaws. There were two males and one female in a den. Dinah looked back at the stranger and smiled nervously.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that you lived here."

The macaw shook her head.

"No, I don't live here. It's kind of a long story. My family and I were captured a few days ago. We're just now trying to escape so we can return to Rio."

"Did you say Rio?"

The macaw nodded.

"Do you mind me asking on what is your name?"

"Salvia."

Dinah's eyes widened. This must be Jalin's girlfriend. Dinah studied her more carefully. She was beautiful, seemed intelligent enough, and was very kind. No wonder why Jalin wanted her, even after realizing there were other Spix's Macaws.

"Did you say Salvia?"

Salvia nodded.

"Yes," Salvia replied unsurely. "Do you…do you know me?"

It was only for the best that she should tell her she met Jalin, but not the part when she kissed him. Obviously, Jalin loved Salvia. SHe did not want to destroy such a relationship by telling that she kissed her boyfriend. Dinah felt obligated to tell her that she met Jalin. It was the least she could do after that nonsense which was wishful thinking that she could be together with Jalin.

"It's because… Well, your boyfriend talks a lot about you."

"Boyfriend?" questioned Salvia, until she realized what this bird meant. "You met Jalin?!"

Dinah nodded.

"Yes. I gave him a few directions to a place. He was looking for a building in hopes of finding his girlfriend and a way out."

Relief and happiness flooded inside Salvia. Jalin was looking for her…but he didn't get caught. Last time she saw him, they were at the beach. To her knowledge, Jalin had not been capture. He was too smart to get caught anyway. The only way he could have been caught was being clumsy. But there was no point in trying to figure out how Jalin got caught. The point was that he was here. To feel his warmth against her body was a day at the spa. Salvia smiled at the macaw.

"So…you know where Jalin is?"

"Yeah."

She looked back towards the den.

"Mommy. Daddy. She knows where Jalin is?"

Mom? Dad? These must be her parents, meaning their Jalin's parents as well.

Dinah watched as two birds rose to their feet. They seemed much older than Salvia, but she was not sure how old they were. She could tell they were older by their feathers. Their feathers seemed to had lost their shine. The male bird was a tad taller than his mate, but he was only a little shorter than Jalin. Looking at him reminded her as Jalin. He had the same amber eyes and dark blue feathers. The only difference was the beak. Jalin's beak was more of a dark charcoal-base color. This male's beak was as dark as a starless night. The female did not look anything like her daughter. The female had blue eyes and a charcoal-colored beak. Her feathers were all light blue. These two birds walked out of the den and joined Salvia's side.

"What is it?" asked the male macaw.

"Who is this?" asked the older female macaw.

"Oh…I'm Dinah."

The macaws at Salvia's side smiled.

"Hi, Dinah. Name's Blu."

"And I'm Jewel."

"Dinah knows where Jalin is," explained Salvia.

Blu's and Jewel's eyes widened.

"He's here," said Blu, "…for real."

Dinah nodded.

"I know where he is. I can take you to him."

"What is he doing?" asked Jewel. "Do you know?"

"He's just trying to escape and rescue Salvia here. I'm not sure if he knows you are here too, but he'll be thrilled…I think."

"Do you know how far he is from here?" asked Salvia.

"No, but it shouldn't be long."

Dinah looked at the sky and noticed that the day was going to end soon. She looked back at the macaws.

"Oh… The sun's about to set, but we can fly closer to it if you want to."

"Well," said Jewel, "the closer we are, the sooner we can catch up to Jalin."

"But what about Dustin?" asked Blu. "He did give us the place to spend the night. I feel it rude to just go, changing our minds about his den he offered."

"That's alright."

The macaws looked back to see Dustin, the navy-blue feathered macaw with green eyes. He smiled.

"It's fine. You guys got your lead, so why should I stand in the way?"

Salvia smiled.

"Thank you, Dustin."

"You're welcome to tag along," said Blu.

"That's okay, Blu. I'll just stick around here."

"But Dustin," said Salvia, "don't you want freedom?"

"I'm comfortable here. Besides, I agree to do something with some friends. I promised them. Can't break that trust."

"Al-right," said Salvia, "if you insist."

Salvia faced Dinah.

"So, shall we get going?"

"Of course," said Dinah. "Follow me."

The females took to the skies and headed towards the building. Blu just looked at Dustin, curious about his behavior.

"Are you sure, Dustin?"

"No offense, Blu, but no. I promised to my friends."

Blu wanted to press further, but he had to catch up with the females.

"Okay… Well, thanks for everything, Dustin. Hopefully, I'll see ya around."

"Same to you, Blu. Bye."

Blu flapped his wings and took off. As he flew to Jewel, Salvia, and Dinah, something did not make sense. If Dustin had friends, why promise they would meet up tonight. Weren't they all in this domed area? He could easily meet with them at anytime. Was it something special or of great importance, or was it an excuse to separate from them? Whatever the case, Blu felt that something about him seem uneasy.

"Dear?"

Focused on his thoughts, he did not notice he had regrouped with the females. He faced Jewel, the bird who called him.

"Is something on your mind?" asked Jewel.

"I'm not sure."

"How can you be not sure?"

"I can't give you an answer now. All we can do is wait and see."

Jewel looked worriedly at her mate.

"Blu, what are you talking about?"

"That Dustin. It seemed weird that he didn't want to come."

"Well, he said he had made a promise to meet some friends."

"That what's puzzling me."

"Don't think about it too hard, Dear. He's a good bird. If he promised his friends, what would they think of him if he broke that promise?"

"I understand, but-"

"Blu, c'mon. We're falling behind. We need to catch up."

Blu looked ahead to see the spread they had to cover to catch up with Salvia and Dinah. Jewel was probably right. If he promised to his friends first, what kind of bird would he be if he broke that promise? Dustin seemed like a kind-hearted bird, but there was still something about him Blu did not like. But did it matter? After they escaped, would they see him again? It was highly unlikely. With that thought, Blu decided to not think too much of Dustin and flew faster with his mate to catch up with Salvia and Dinah.


	14. Unconfident Similarities

**Hey guys. I don't do this often (writing in the story), but I have my reasons. I've been reviewing this story as well, and I see a lot of grammar mistakes. If you see any grammar issues later on, either comment about it or send me a PM. Thank you.**

* * *

The air, the trees, the animals... All seemed so gentle. It was expected as the sun went down in an area like this. Under the transparent dome, nature was controlled and calm. There were no fights, no hunting, and no killing...at least by what one male macaw saw. A Spix's Macaw with amber eyes and a charcoal beak watched from a branch as the sun settled slowly down behind a rather large mobile building. To him, it was basically a mobile science laboratory.

But looking at it was not his only intention. He planned to sneak into it. This dome was a trapped; he sensed something wrong with it. He yearned for freedom from this...cage, and this mobile laboratory provided the only escape. He had been in it once before and navigated through it using the air conditioning system, until he got caught and put into this place. Tonight, he would use the same air conditioning system to escape from this dome, but there was one thing he needed to do.

The reason why he came here, tried to sneak into this concealed area of the Hawaiian jungle, and got caught and put into the dome was because he was looking for someone. He had risked much for this special someone before, and he was willing to do it again. Salvia, his special someone, was trapped in this dome. The two had agreed, him being mostly forced by her feelings, to go on this trip to Hawaii from their hometown of Rio. Unfortunately, his future mate was captured, and he came here searching for her. Now, he was perched on a branch, looking at the window of freedom.

With the thought of freedom in his mind, one would suspect he had forgotten about her... It was quite the opposite. He was going to be the experiment and see if it was a safe way to escape through. If it was, he was then going to return to this place to find her.

"Salvia," the foot and a half tall blue macaw breathed.

He looked around; this blue macaw named Jalin. The tree he was perching on did not provide a den. He was going to nap outside for the night. He could care less. He walked closer to the trunk of the tree and leaned against it. He closed his eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

Four Spix's Macaws flew through this concealed part of the Hawaiian jungle. The trees of the native land stood still as no wind was present. This made flying for the birds more steady. However, there was still a problem. One of the birds was lacking behind. The only male of the group, Blu, panted heavily as he struggled to stay airborne. His blue-eyed mate Jewel was only a couple of feet ahead of him when he called out to her.

"Jewel."

The light blue feathered macaw turned around to see her lover's tired, almost sickly, face.

"I can't...go. I need a break."

Jewel nodded and faced forward. As the dark blue feathered male landed, Jewel called out to the two birds ahead of her.

"Salvia! Dinah!"

The two females looked back to see Jewel land on the branch next to Blu. The amber-eyed male was coughing badly. Seeing her father in this condition, the hazel-eyed, mostly light blue feathered Spix's Macaw named Salvia rushed to see what was wrong. The green-eyed Spix's Macaw named Dinah followed her. They landed on the branch and looked over at Blu, who was being supported by Jewel.

"What's wrong?" asked Salvia.

Blu coughed a little.

"I think this area is getting to me."

"You need your vitamins," stated Jewel in a caring voice.

Usually, Blu would try his best to argue with Jewel he did not need them, but it was different now.

"Yes," Blu nodded. "I think I just have a cold or something like that. I just need some C in me. That's all."

"Some Vitamin C?" wondered Salvia.

Blu nodded.

"I think I know where to get some," said Dinah. "They're in oranges and guavas. I think guavas have the most."

Salvia looked at this bird. She sounded like her Jalin. Dinah smiled and looked around. She noticed that the tree next to the one they perched on had a den. It seemed unoccupied. Dinah pointed to the den.

"We should rest there for the night," she said, dropping her wing as the other three birds faced the den. "I'll get the fruit we need to make Blu healthy again."

Salvia turned towards Dinah.

"I'm coming with you."

"Okay. It would be faster. Let's go."

Salvia and Dinah went off to search for food as Blu and Jewel flew over to the den to wait for them. As they flew, things went through Salvia's mind about Dinah. This bird could easily pass as a female version of Jalin. She seemed smart, caring, helpful, kind of jumpy when surprised. The only part missing was clumsiness, but she had just met the bird, so if she gave Dinah some time to be clumsy, then it would be safe to assume she is the female version of Jalin.

Dinah soon started to gently glide down to a tree branch after a few minutes of flying. Salvai followed and landed next to her. Dinah looked over at the hanging fruit and determined it to be guava. She walked up near the stem of the fruit and clamped it with her beak. She began pulling the stem towards her, but she found difficulty. She pulling with all her might, and as soon as the stem finally snapped, she lost her balance on the tree branch and started falling backwards off the tree. She caught herself in midair as she still held onto the stem which was still attached to the green fruit. She flew back up to the branch and set the fruit down between her and Salvia. She faced Jalin's girlfriend and smiled.

"So...how many do you think we need?"

Clumsy, check. Yep. She's the female version of Jalin.

"I think one for each of us."

"If it's one for each of us, I'm going to see if I could find a big leaf or something to carry it. Salvia, would you mind-"

"Not at all," Salvia smiled.

Dinah then flew off to find something to help them carry the fruit. Salvia begin to get the stems with her beak and then twist and pull them so they would come off easier. She had learned this trick from Blu during her two weeks of adjusting in Rio before this trip. What was funny was that Jalin did not know of this trick and accused Blu of picking favorites in a sarcastic way. Of course, that night Jalin got a lecture from her and an apology from Jalin was given to Blu the next day.

She gathered the three remaining guavas she needed to make four just as Dinah returned back to the branch. Salvia was expecting a jumbo leaf, but Dinah had returned with two thick jungle vines.

"I couldn't find any big leaves, but these vines should do the trick."

"What do you plan to do?" asked Salvia.

Dinah smiled.

"Well, it'll be like if we had rope tied to something to carry. I'll tie the fruit side-by-side, tie them in a line, and you carry one end and I'll carry the other."

Dinah began to tie the two vines around the four guavas one at a time. Salvia just watched. She got what Dinah meant, but she figured it would be best just to stay out of the way. Dinah tightly secured the fruit together, leaving some extra vine length so they could be held, and looked up at Salvia with a smile.

"Done. All we need to do is grab each end of the vines and fly back to Blu and Jewel."

Salvia looked at the secured guavas and then back at Dinah.

"How do you know all this? Have you been here for a long time?"

Dinah shook her head.

"Only a week before I met Jalin has gone by for me."

"A week, and you know all this. You must really know how to survive in the jungle."

"Not exactly. I'm a captive bird, born in a reservation in Quatar. Much of what I know is just using simple principles of physics and flying around here."

"Wait! You know physics too?"

Dinah nodded.

"Do you?"

Salvia shook her head.

"No. Most of it is over my head. Jalin knows it though."

"...Oh, yeah. He seems like a smart bird."

"Hey, when you meet, did you guys have a contest of wits?" chuckled Salvia.

Dinah flinched a little and smiled.

"Um... Something like that, I think."

Salvia's smiling expression slowly dropped and was replaced by a questioning look. Dinah did not like the look given to her and slightly grinned.

"Is something the matter?" asked Dinah.

"Um, Dinah? Is there something you're not telling me?"

Dinah just grinned and waved her right wing in a forward bending motion towards Salvia as if she was bye to Jalin's girlfriend.

"No, no," she said and then dropped her wing back to her side. "Why would I keep any secrets? Listen, we just hung out for a bit, looking for a way to escape. He insisted there was, but I told him no. He soon changed his mind to look for you, but I told him it was pretty big... He didn't give up, and I mentioned to him there was a building that monitors everything. I know because I saw a camera trying to be disguised as fruit. I then lead him over there."

Salvia took in what Dinah said to be honest. Still, the end of her short story was slightly confusing.

"But if you lead him there, why didn't you stay?"

"... That building just gives me the creep. I was there once before, and the way they operate there is scary. It was like a physical exam the humans gave me, and then they injected me with something that knocked me out. When I came about, I was in this dome."

"But if you're a captive bird, aren't you use to all the exams and shots?"

"This was...different. Something told me something was wrong about that place."

"...So, you didn't tell Jalin that this place was bad?"

"I...well, something else... Look at the sun. It's about to set. I'm worried about Blu's condition. C'mon."

Salvia wanted to press on, but Dinah was right. Her sickened father was more important now. Though it was just a cold, it could easily evolve into something worse. She saw Dinah grab one end of the knotted vines with her feet. Salvia saw the untouched end and grabbed it. The two birds took off, only being separated by two downward drooping vines that were fastened around four guavas. As they flew back, flapping their wings simultaneously, something was on Salvia's mind: Dinah wasn't telling her fully on why she and Jalin went their own ways.

* * *

Jalin's amber eyes opened widely. Only three hours had passed since he had closed his eyes to nap. The stars and the moon of the night sky provided light down onto the jungle. He pushed himself off the trunk he had rested on and stretched out his wings. He let out a yawn and looked out in front of him. The mobile laboratory had some lights on, meaning at least some of the people already called it a night.

Okay, he thought. The less people there are, the easier this will be.

He looked around and spotted the air conditioning unit on the roof. He also saw a small vent pipe sticking out of the roof, only a few feet away from the unit. He smiled.

There's my ticket in. Alright. Let's do this and find-

"Hi."

The voice startled him. He quickly turned to his right, only to face a female Spix's Macaw's face a short hair strain away from his beak. He panicked slightly and moved back a little.

"Did I startle you?" asked the female macaw in a seductive Brigette Neilsen's voice.

"N-no. It was mostly me."

The female giggled. Jalin took a quick glance at this bird, noting that her eyes were blue and her feathers were ocean blue. Her beak was lightly darkened black, almost gray, and her feet were the same color as her beak. The feathers on top of her head were upward and made the shape of a curve, similar to how a peacock's tail feathers are aligned. Jalin rubbed the back of his neck.

"Is this your tree? I'm sorry. I was just-"

"No, but it could be our tree."

The female blinked a few times and gave Jalin the face of wanting something. Jalin knew what she wanted and grew nervous.

"Listen, I already have a girlfriend."

"So? I don't care."

Jalin nervously tapped his wing tips and looked around. He looked back at the female macaw, who was leaning towards him. He backed against the tree truck in fright.

"Listen, I-"

"Hey, Honey! Get yourself a hero other than that zero."

Jalin looked behind the female macaw as she turned around to see where that Arnold Schwarzenegger's voice came from. Near the end of the branch stood a male Spix's Macaw. This one had a puffed-out chest and proud and arrogant eyes. His eyes were almost brown and his blue feathers were much darker than Jalin's feathers while his darkened pecker was smaller than Jalin's beak. His feet were also black as the night sky. The male grinned wickedly and smiled.

"Baby, you want some?"

The female looked at this new bird and then back at Jalin. She then turned towards the new bird and walked towards him. They leaned to each other and kissed passionately. Very slowly, the male macaw started to stroke the tail feathers of the female. The female smiled.

"Not here. C'mon. I know of a den where we can do it."

The male smiled. The two strangers then took off and left for her den, leaving a poor Jalin's confused. He scratched his head.

"What just happened? Was I seeing things or was Arnold Schwarzenegger having another affair...in bird form?"

Jalin sighed.

"Whatever the case, I'm glad to get out of that one with no kiss. Salvia wouldn't be too happy if she heard something about it."

But what about that kiss from Dinah... Has word spread? I hope not. The truth is sometimes fudged or misinterpreted. It is best if I tell her when I find her and have some alone time with her.

He looked towards the building.

First thing's first... If I use the cameras, then I can find her and go to her. Hopefully, there's a map of the cameras I could use to make finding her easier... Salvia, I'll be by your side soon enough.

Jalin flew off the branch and landed on the air conditioning pipe. The pipe was big enough to let a Hyacinth Macaw in. There was no bars or vents from preventing creatures to get in. He smiled and slowly descended down the pipe to find the camera room.


End file.
